Deliverance
by Seven-years-ago
Summary: Tobias helps rebuild the city of Chicago through politics, laying his gun to rest. But when the fragile peace is shattered by a deliberate attack on innocent people, the Bureau seems like the likely answer. Revisiting the last place he ever wanted to, Tobias discovers something that will send his world spinning. What lengths will he go to to stop it? Nanowrimo fic, could get crazy!
1. Dauntless

_**A/N - I'd like to go ahead and make some disclaimers before anyone reads this. 1) I'm writing this for Nanowrimo, which means that sometimes quantity is better than quality, I do try to give chapters at least a quick haul over, but if you do see a mistake let me know! 2) Also, due to the chaos of Nanowrimo, some things may get crazy and not really make much sense, or seem kind of pointless. As it is I've wrote this first chapter over probably twice, changing, adding and erasing a few hundred words each time. Please bear with me. Also, critique is welcome! :)**_  
><strong><em> Please R&amp;R!<br>_**

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><p><em>Full Synopsis - <em>The city of Chicago seems to be at peace, Evelyn's return seems to have gone unnoticed, but has it? Like a ripple in a pond, a small group of protestors has made clear that not everyone is on board with the new governing system. A rebellion begins to grow within the city and then the attacks begin. In search of resolving the unsettling attacks, a political meeting is called at the Bureau. Tobias is bitter about his return to the Bureau but unable to allow himself to back down from his position helping the city, he forces himself to stay. It is this choice that leads him to a ground breaking discovery: experiments they had long thought abolished from the walls of the Bureau, human experiments. Tobias is determined to put an end to it, but at what cost?_  
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><p><em>Deliverance<em>

_Part One: Marked_

_Chapter One - Dauntless_

I would never get used to the stinging, tearing, irritated sensation of the needle repeatedly stabbing my flesh. I felt myself grimace as the tattoo machine reached close to my collar bone, it had been a while. The former Dauntless grounds were not somewhere I was eager to revisit, and yet most of the artists had refused to move from there, choosing to remain in the lesser explored regions of the new city. So I found myself here yet again, exploring the dark reaches of the former Dauntless grounds.

"So explain to me," I begin, "why is it you don't want to leave this place?" I ask the girl who has been working away with hardly a word for the last three hours. "There are lot better places that would bring in more traffic to your shop." I think of the newly rebuilt area we now refer to as 'Memorial Square' standing in the heart of the city over part of what used to be Candor's sector, the new shop fronts and residential areas a booming success with the out of city immigrants and original settlers alike. She gave me a piercing look, pausing for the first time in what seemed like forever before finally answering.

"Despite what you may think, most of the factions aren't lining up for tattoos, and those who are know where to find us." and with that she refocused her attention. "We're almost done by the way." She added a moment later, dousing the inked skin in alcohol and wiping it before going to work once again. I dropped my head back onto the headrest again and stared at the pictures and posters that had lost their appeal in the first ten minutes sitting in the chair. It was common for people to still refer to themselves and the people of the city as faction members, it's probably the main reason why so many went back to their old homes when all was said and done. Even though the truth was exposed and the factions struck down, those who lived here before knew this was a faction city through and through.

I was just about ready to jump out of my skin I was so anxious to be done, my skin irritated to the point I was ready to tell her to quit, when she finally said we were finished and handed me a mirror. The eagle was bold against the irritated, red skin but looked dangerous and beautiful. Despite the the small trails of blood that trickled from the freshly wounded skin, it was clear to see the detail she had put into it, the long hours weren't for nothing. "Perfect." I stated, anxious to get out of the leather seat and moving. I was eager to get running, as far away from these familiar streets as possible. I paid up as quickly as I could and left, ignoring the looks and murmurs that followed in my wake as I easily navigated my way through the old Dauntless quarter.

The happenings in the Bureau those two years ago were common knowledge to the original settlers of this new, free society, and of course - such is human nature - it didn't remain secret for long. An underground sort of popularity came of it, all of us who took part in the wiping of the Bureau were 'heroes' of the people. If the Bureau knew, they'd probably put an end to it, it didn't look good on them for their experiments to be thought more highly of than them - the creators. _If _the Bureau knew. That was the point of everything that happened, everything we did was it not? So the Bureau would forget. That's why Tris was gone, she saved this city and if anyone should be experiencing it, it should be her.

As my mind moved to thoughts of Tris, I feel my feet begin moving, gaining speed, the smacking of my sneakers echoing off the walls as I take off in a sprint. My lungs burn and my chest aches not only from the running but the tattoo burning with every movement of my arm. I focused on that steady smack of rubber on pavement until the train came into view. I hadn't used the train as a method of transport for a very long time, many hadn't since the new factionless city was built, but it was like riding a bike - I hoped. I got myself parallel to the train and lengthened my stride, propelling myself forward harder, my arms pumping and I eyed the passing carts. I counted to myself, willing myself to do it, as my eyes lock onto the door I'm aiming for, 'two...Three!' I grabbed the side of the door frame and pushed off with my feet, hauling myself into the cart with my arms.

Just like riding a bike, I lied to myself as my chest heaved and I let myself fall to the ground. I sat on the dirty floor, my arms wrapped around my knees and I looked out upon the city that whizzed by. The changes were enormous, the inner most part of the city was a thriving metropolis of shiny glass buildings and bustling streets, people shifting and milling about at all hours of the day. The outer reaches still had faction buildings, colours and symbols that clearly marked how far the developments had reached to date. I hated going through those areas, they reminded me of my father, or of Tris, neither of which generally led to pleasant memories, the reason I stopped using the train as transportation.

The train rounded the bend and began heading towards the outer reaches of the new development, and I began to panic I didn't want these memories today, not when I was so close at coming to peace with it. I pulled myself to my feet and watched ahead for signs of escape, rooftops whirred past, they didn't look that far away, at least no further than they had on that first jump. I stepped back a couple feet and ran forward, jumping as far as I could with the limited space I had.

I shouldn't have jumped.

There was the familiar rush of air, and then there was too much of it, my feet weren't finding the ground. I reached out with my arms to try and grab something, and finally my hands smacked something hard. I held fast with my now stinging fingers. A window ledge. My body smashed against the red brick, and a cry escaped my lips as a pain spread up my right side. I hung for a moment, unsure what to do or where to go from here. I hazarded a look down, to see how far it was to the ground and felt my stomach clench. Even after all this, after everything I had been through it was still the stupid fear of heights that got me every time. It looked like I was hanging from a third floor window, there wasn't concrete below me but rather some shrubs and a whole lot of grass, 'I suppose that's a plus' I think as I evaluate the situation. As far as I can see, if the window is unlocked I might be able to get through it, otherwise I'll need to drop and hope for the best. Peachy.

I bang on the window and there's no response from within, I try and hoist myself up, but the ledge is small and it's near impossible. My arms ache and the ledge cuts into my scraped fingers. I try to wedge the window open with my finger tips but it won't budge. That leaves one choice. With a deep breath I kick off from the wall and let go. I screamed out as I hit the ground, the scream cut short by the air being ripped from my lungs as I hit the grass. Why does no one tell you the ground is ten times harder than it seems when you're walking on it?

My whole body is a mass of aching pain, I lay there for a while, half in a bush and half on the solid ground with no motivation to move. When I finally catch my breath I look up to see a face peering out at me from the window. "Are you alright down there?" it shouts. I feel the urge to shout back a sarcastic remark, did I look ok? I decide on trying my hand at moving instead. I slowly roll over, every movement a tremendous toll on my limbs, I try to push myself up and feel a sharp pain up my arm and my wrist gives out under me. 'Well that's broken.' I think to myself, using my elbow and my other arm to get up to my feet.

Riding the train was not like riding a bike at all.

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><p>Johanna tutted as she looked me up and down, I must have been a sight to see, bruised and battered, a cast on my arm, a limp in my walk and my office work attire on. "Well you've certainly seen better days." she commented, turning back to her desk and motioning me to sit down. Her office is filled with knick-knacks, pictures and paintings, little ceramics and carvings, the polar opposite of mine.<p>

"I had a little fall." I responded, wincing a little as I sat down in the tan leather seat.

"So I heard, glad to see you're alive and well." I give a nod of acknowledgement and she plunges on into today's tasks. "The proposal for the reconstruction of the set of residential buildings is in, we've got a meeting with them to go over the specifics. I've also got paperwork that needs to be sent to the Bureau with regards to the raise in Police budgeting. While we're on the topic, I need you to set up a meeting with the Chief of Police to go over the upgraded monitoring of the downtown core on the weekends, the influx of traffic down there makes me nervous. Then I'll need you to help me convince the leader of the little protesting group outside that your mother's return is in no way a threat to this city."

Nothing had been said about Evelyn, it was an unspoken secret until now. The last few days had led to a small group of peaceful protestors outside the office building, but they were annoying and attracted attention. In the semi-fragile state the city was still in, there was no doubt that these protestors would need to be addressed sooner or later. We had thought that my mother's re-entrance to the city would have gone unnoticed, unfortunately, we were wrong and the last thing anyone wanted was more turmoil after the final incidents of the faction led city.

"We'll figure it out." She said quietly. I nodded and was thankful for her return to her computer, silently announcing my cue to leave. I headed back to my small office, to make the calls I needed to and set up the meetings that were necessary to get this city back on it's feet. The other workers in the office stared as I passed their doors, they often did and I'm sure my battered look had nothing but added fuel to whatever thoughts coursed through their heads.

Not many people spoke to me since the events at the Bureau, heck, not many people talked to me _before_ those instances. If it wasn't for Tris my tight knit circle of friends would be practically non-existent. So when I looked up to see Christina loitering outside my office door with coffees in hand, I couldn't help but smile a bit. Christina, my personal hero - not that I'd ever tell her that, but I'm pretty sure she knows. She was the reason I made it through everything, the reason I kept on keeping on. I think about how foolish I had been, wanting to wipe my own memories, how selfish of me to so willingly wanting to give up my memories of Tris. We're close.

"Wow, you look uh... pretty beat up." she said, holding out a coffee for me. I take it and shake my head.

"I took the train." I mumbled sourly. It must have been the look on my face that made her burst out laughing.

"The mighty Four has fallen, literally." I rolled my eyes and proceeded to open the door, my nose greeted by the smell of cleaners and paper. "And by the looks of it, you fell far."

"Jumped for a rooftop on the outskirts of Dauntless." I said bitterly. She gave me an expectant look, so I proceeded, knowing full well that she would have never let me get away with a simple explanation like that. "And I didn't quite make it all the way. I got a window sill and smashed into the wall, and then had to drop to the ground." She cringed as I described it and shook her head.

"Why were you on the train anyways? No one uses the trains anymore." I was quiet for a moment as she made herself at home, flopping down into the grey seat across from me, leaning back and putting her feet up on the corner of the desk.

"I was getting work done," I said, pulling down the collar of my shirt to expose the top of my fresh tattoo. "But there was just so much of her there, everything started coming back like it was yesterday and I couldn't deal with it." We sat in silence for a moment, in my plain, nearly empty office, looking more like an Abnegation house than anything, nothing to even pretend to be distracted by. Grey walls, one desk, two chairs, one computer screen, a small collection of pens in a cup and a lined notepad. There wasn't a picture on the wall, or a card on the desk, if I were to get up and leave, it would be as if no one was ever here.

"So you hopped on the train." She finally finished, opening her steaming cup, carefully pinning the plastic tab back onto the lid. "Like any Dauntless trying to get away quick." She said, looking up and raising her steaming cup in cheers. "To old habits dying hard." I raised mine in agreement and then sipped the hot drink as Christina picked away at her muffin. "So what about this job? Do you actually like this? I mean you were offered leadership positions in Dauntless how many times?"

"I like it." I respond. "I feel like I owe it to Tris to help rebuild the city she sacrificed herself for, even if the people don't know it. Why do you ask?" She laughed and looked at me as if it was as obvious as spots on a leopard.

"Because you're _Four_! First class Dauntless fighter and Mr. Unapproachable number one." I scoff at her response and she laughs at me. It's easy to see why she befriended Christina, always the cheery one. "Let's be honest, if it wasn't for Tris, I would _not_ be sitting here now!" her laugh fades and we sit in silence for a moment.

"I miss her." I say quietly.

"Me too." She whispers back.

I hazard a look at the time on my computer screen and then look back to her. "You know, they will fire you if you're late every day."

"mhmmm." She mumbled around her mouth full of food, standing and heading for the door as she does. "And if that happens, you'll get me a job here right?" She smiles and walks out the door. "Bye Four!" I hear her shout from the hall. I shake my head, and I can't help but smile.

That had been the highlight of my day. The rest of the day was spent on the phone and in meetings, all of which were either pre-determined or led nowhere. I was beginning to wonder if Christina was right about me, was I really fit for this job? At first it had been exciting and there were meetings and traveling and new people and proposals to make, there was ceremonies and conferences had and everything was grand and new and exciting. The excitement was wearing off, there was a lot of paperwork and repetition, a lot of sitting and listening, none of which I was very good at. But then, what else would I be doing? Was it not right that I became a leader of the people, both of my parents had done it after all, albeit they were twisted and power hungry leaders, they had people rallied behind them.

I thought about it all day, the words gnawing at the back of my mind until it consumed my thoughts. Would I end up like my parents did? I thought of Tris and her uncanny ability to predict things happening before they did, she knew who to trust and who to turn away from, even if at times that was me. Then I look at my own ability to do those things, and they are weak, sure, people listen to me, mostly because of my, well, as Christina put it, my 'unapproachable' nature.

"Tobias." The voice shattered my reverie and brought me crashing back to the building meeting, blue prints, building permits, contracts and mock images of final products. The pictures of which we had seen nearly a hundred times already.

"Yes?" I responded, leaning forward in my seat, trying to refocus my attention to whatever they had been talking about for the last half hour.

"Can you-" Johanna was cut off by the echo of a resounding boom and the terrified shrieks of people. Citizens of Chicago.

I jumped to my feet and raced for the window. Chaos bloomed below us and through the smoke I could make out one thing - a jet black ring solid and unnatural marring the pavement below. That wasn't a result of the blast, nothing naturally occurred in a perfect circle - that was put there by something or someone. That jet black circle mocking us from below, as people screamed and ran, smoke pouring from the building adjacent to us.

I felt it tugging at the back of my brain, and no matter how hard I tried, I couldn't help it - I ran. Sprinting towards the stairs, I yanked my tie hard, freeing my neck from it's noose and tearing a button off in the process. I took the stairs down two at a time, nearly tumbling over as I reached the bottom. I took off for the door, my dress shoes sliding on the tile as I rounded the corner and pushed through the main entrance.

I burst out into a street full of smoke, vaguely aware of my name being shouted from behind me. I headed for the source of the smoke, pushing through the people, hardly aware that I was stepping over the black circle that had taunted me from above. People were shrieking everywhere, but it wasn't long before I came across bloodied bodies. That wasn't what I had came here for though, I started climbing through the debris, sifting for the source of the blast, anything that might indicate who or what caused it.

I could feel my lungs suffocating as I choked down more and more smoke. I pulled my button down shirt off, and soaked it in the water that flowed from an overturned water cooler and tied it around my face, to serve as a makeshift barrier between my lungs and the smoke. It did little, but at least my lungs didn't feel like they were being scorched with every breath.

Something moves behind me and I snap my attention towards it, I can't see much through the smoke. I hear something again, I'm not sure what it is, I can't quite make it out, but I head towards it, hoping it's something that will be useful. I move towards the corner the sound is coming from, I slow as I approach, blinking furiously as my eyes begin to sting something fierce, but creeping towards the target.

I stop directly in front of a large piece of concrete leaned up in the corner, whatever it was, was coming from behind that. I grabbed the piece with both hands and pulled but it didn't move. I changed my position, bracing myself against the wall and pushing until my muscles strained, I was ready to give up when it finally began to budge. I threw the weight of my body into it and finally saw some results. My chest ached as my lungs searched for oxygen, which was becoming more and more minimal as the time progressed.

Finally the concrete piece gave way, exposing the corner. I stopped dead, it was no bomb, it was no shooter or enemy, but a small child, curled into a ball so small I would have nearly thought it impossible if I wasn't seeing it. She stared up at me in silence, both of us unmoving for a moment. "Tobias!" I heard from outside and I jumped.

"Four! Where the hell is he?! He needs to get out of there! You and you, take that side, Zeke you're with me, this way. Let's go gents, pick it up!"

"I'm right here!" I yell, and I tear the shirt from my face and wrap it around the girl's, knotting it below her disheveled brown pony tail. "That better?" I ask, kneeling down in front of her, and she says nothing but nods.

"Good. Let's go." I grab her easily and begin picking my way back out of the rubble, my throat and lungs feeling scorched with every inhale I take. The little girl's hands have my t-shirt locked in her tiny fists as I pick my way through.

I'm beginning to feel light headed, and I know that it's lack of oxygen beginning to take it's toll. I pause for a moment to try and catch any kind of breath I can, but only succeed in making it worse. I hear a creaking and force my legs to dive, and just in time. A large steel beam comes smashing down in front of us, smashing a hole in the floor, exposing the basement below. I stagger, throwing my shoulder to the wall to stabilize myself.

"Four, is that you?" It sounds like Amar, but I'm finding it a little too hard to focus to be sure.

"Stay there, I'm on my way out!" I shout back, coughing hard as I force my protesting lungs to gulp in the fiery air once again.

I hear more shouts, incomprehensible to me and I feel my limbs getting weaker and weaker. The child that was light only moments ago suddenly felt like the heaviest thing I had ever lifted. I follow the wall, using it to support the weight I feel like I can't carry anymore.

My knees smash the ground and my hand shoots out to keep myself from face planting into the debris. I pulled myself up, using a large piece of concrete much like the one I had pulled away from the little girl. I felt the pressure of her little hand lift and I felt panic, was she still conscious? I felt her hand press against my face, the cool wet fabric against my skin felt marvelous but at this point it did little to help my lungs.

"Tobias!" I hear a female this time, sounding frantic, but closer than the voices before. My casted arm aches holding on to the girl and I'm forced to switch her to my better arm, if I fall now we're screwed. I take a few more steps and I can see that it's getting lighter. I feel a hand clamp down on my arm and I'm half pertified and half relieved.

"Got him!" The owner shouts, it takes a second to focus but I'd recognize that mug anywhere: Amar. Another hand joins on the other side - George. I'm thankful for their guidance out the last few steps of the building, as I stumble, my limbs having never felt so weak.

As my feet hit level ground my knees finally give out and my casted arm smashed against the ground in reflex, sending a sharp pain up through my shoulder, but I don't care anymore. I find myself gasping hard for the clearer air, trying to keep the world from spinning in front of me. I focus on the ground between my fingers. A thick black line under them, the mark of whoever did this, but what kind of person would do something like this?


	2. Irrational

_**A/N - Thank-you to those people who checked this out and favourited! So here's chapter two, a little on the fence about some things that happen here, but I guess that's all in the name of nanoing! If you catch any mistakes, as always, let me know! **_

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><p><em>Deliverance<em>

_Part One: Marked_

_Chapter Two - Irrational_

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><p>The little girl clung like a burr to my shirt. Upon our collapse on the black marked pavement I sat back on my knees, tilting my head back trying desperately to open my airway and suck in the cool air. Someone reached for the girl, unknotting her hands from my shirt, I thought nothing of it. I could hear my mother sobbing and yelling my name, pushing through the last few people that stood between her and I.<p>

An ear piercing shriek cut through the air, making the hair on my arms stand on end. I turned towards its source, the silent girl thrashed in Zeke's arms, the first noise she had made this whole time. The look of horror on Zeke's face was priceless. He looked horrified, quickly dropping the girl who ran back across the black lines toward me, silencing as she latched back on.

I froze.

She latched on with a determined strength, her arms wrapped around my neck to the point I could hardly breathe again. My body wasn't quite in the shape for this that it should be, I regretted not keeping my fitness up after Tris. I twisted my head around, trying to make more space for air, only succeeding in a fierce grip being locked around my neck tighter. I grabbed her little arm and pulled, trying to free myself, but she was surprisingly strong and locked tight, there wasn't much space given. Amar then tried to free me from her to have nearly the same results as Zeke. Surely this girl had a parent around here somewhere?

Evelyn prodded at me as the child clung and they tried to find her parents. After my own few attempts, my mother's attempts even Johanna's and Christina's attempts it was quite obvious that not even the famous 'motherly touch' would affect this burr. I finally gave up, pulling my knees out from under me and sitting right on the ground, dropping my hands to my sides in defeat.

It was then I heard the laughter start and then build, my friends, the whole lot of them looked to be choking, their faces red and their bodies doubled over. I glared at them, which only fueled their laughter more as I sat in annoyance with this little girl wrapped around my neck, her face buried in my shirt.

"Oh Four, if Tris could see you now! The look on your face - priceless!" Zeke roared, and I couldn't help but laugh a little, only imagining what this must look like. 'Mr. Unapproachable' with a child hanging on for dear life. The moment was cut short by Johanna.

"Excuse me, but this is not the time for laughter. There are people here who are dead and injured, get a hold of yourselves!" Our mouths snapped shut immediately. "And you-" she started at me "You are looking to be a political leader here, if you wanted to save lives you should have joined the Police force! That was extremely reckless!" I felt the anger bubbling under my skin as if it was alive. There was silence amongst our group now, but chaos still raged around us, medical personnel just arriving on the scene and beginning to tend to the severely injured.

"At least I did more than stand there." I responded coldly, and began to pull myself to my feet. Christina jumped forward to help me up, pulling more of my weight than I would have thought she was able to. There was silence in the group, an unspoken divide between them and us, Dauntless and the rest. Another uniformed officer came jogging up to the group, easing the tension in the group in the slightest.

"Couldn't find anyone that knew who she was." He declared, a little out of breath to Amar - clearly not Dauntless. I couldn't stop thinking that way right now, how dare she? For years they looked to me and my fellow Dauntless members to protect this city and now our skills and actions were consistently regarded as 'reckless' and 'extremely irrational'. The officer looked sympathetically at me, but with my blood boiling already, all that really made me want to do was smack him.

"Well, when you do, you know where to find me." I said coldly and turned, pushing through the crowd and heading towards my apartment. Save someone and no one cares, such is the mentality of every government - the great of the many and all that crap they feed the public. I looked straight ahead and ignored the looks and the comments people shouted after me as I headed off. I didn't even turn around at Christina's shouts, I knew she'd be mad at me for that later.

I kept that up for a good block or two, until the people had died down and I regretted choosing to live so far away from the office building. I felt the exhaustion set in two-fold from my initial exit of the collapsing building, and was beginning to regret a lot of things in that moment. I watched as sirens rang and vehicles flew past me, it was still strange seeing them around the city. Still not accepted by the common folk, but a lot more easy to come by than before, they were beginning to take over. I wonder how prominent they were in society before the Purity War.

I hear my saving grace before I see it. The train. Surely I could muster a little more to get me home? I begin jogging, my lungs a terrible kind of aching, still the girl says nothing, I'm beginning to wonder if she's mute but then she probably wouldn't have screamed, would she? Lost in my own thoughts I don't bother to speak to her, yet she still doesn't do anything but cling to me. In one sense, I wish she would leave me alone, in the other, I know exactly why she doesn't - losing someone close to you is something inexplicably sad. She saw it, and I'm sure of it. She knows no one is coming back for her for a reason, and I feel like, even though I know I'm only assuming something, that we connect.

The train comes in to sight, and I push myself harder. The image of Tris after her fight, Eric told her she was out, factionless, and she got up and ran after the train. I know she would have never made it without me helping her, but I imagine that this time I am her, and she is determined to catch the train, I can practically see it in her eyes. The memory makes me push myself a little harder and I find it almost easy to reach the train and swing myself into the boxcar.

We're jostled around as the train travels towards home. I recognise that I haven't thought things through yet, but let's be honest, my style is more of a 'roll with the punches' kind of style, and that means I'll deal with what happens when it happens. For now, that means getting us home. I make a mental list: Home, bathe, food, drink, sleep - the basics. My body aches more than I've ever experienced, even my initiation days don't compare to this.

I watch the buildings fly past and try to imagine what will happen to us, the unlikely pair- this small girl and me in a world that's bigger than I ever imagined. I have so many questions floating around in my head and I wish that things were as easy as they were when the factions were in place. At least then I knew what I had to think, knew how to think - Dauntlessly. I knew that I had to act a certain way and perform a certain way and that was survival, that was how to live. The factions were gone now and I didn't know how to think, I didn't know what ideas were right and wrong, I didn't know how to apply things to situations like they should have been. This new world was still a big mystery to me, and I resented the idea that Tris would have made me so much better. Surely I was meant to withstand these changes, surely she would have told me I was able to do so.

I jumped when it was necessary, and this time it _was_ like riding a bike. I let the momentum pull me forward and I jogged easily to the bottom of the grassy knoll until I felt like I was in control again. I slowed and proceeded to walk the next couple blocks to my apartment, huffing and puffing more than I ever had before.

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><p>I stared, my chin resting on my hands, flush with the table. Her bright blue eyes were something to behold, blue as the sky and large and as wide open as the amity fields that skirted the city. She doesn't blink and neither do I, determined that this little girl will not best me at even so much as a staring contest. My eyes burn and I resist the urge to close them.<p>

The door flies open with a bang and I'm on my feet in seconds. "Tobias!" I recognise that voice - Evelyn, and she is not bringing that into my house, not even in the slightest and especially not with this girl here. I move towards the door with decided steps, a serious look on my face. I motion for her to get outside without saying anything and she complies, obviously realising I'm willing to talk but not here. I feel on edge still as I close the door on my home and face Evelyn out in the hallway, the barrier is there, but I know this will more than likely end in a yelling match that will carry through the apartment and I feel slightly sick, thinking about the innocent girl sitting at the kitchen table.

"Young man you were extremely out of line back there -" I hold my hand up to silence her.

"I did what was necessary and I can't take it back now." I respond, trying to avoid the argument altogether, but I know that's a silly pipe dream, I've seen her fight, oh how I've seen her fight and I know it won't end with this.

"You did _not_ do what was necessary! Your job is to assess the situations and address the people, let the emergency responders save the lives and dive head first into the crumbling buildings. You have no idea what your actions could have started! What would Tris think if she knew you just went out of your way to risk your life?" I think back to how I felt when Tris went off to her death, the cold dread that coursed through my body when I woke up to find her gone, the bed cold and empty beside me.

"Don't bring her into this." I respond coldly, I can feel myself shutting down, the walls going up. "You have no idea who she was, let alone what she would have _thought_." I spit back, feeling the tension growing like an elastic, and it was about to snap.

"I know what I would have felt if your father had gone off into danger for no reason!" She countered, I expect she thought that statement would mean something. All it did was anger me.

"You mean the man you despised? The man you left alone with your child to deal with?" I could see her beginning to backtrack, as if there were gears behind her eyes instead of a brains. Her response was a change of subject - I didn't think she would have any answers to that, because she had no idea.

"All I'm saying is you're in an important position now Tobias. You need to accept that you aren't a soldier anymore, the foot work is not yours to worry about. You are a leader, a commander Tobias."

"No, I'm not, not yet, I'm the commander's lackey." I respond bitterly. Her voice begins to raise as she makes her next statement.

"You have a very important job to do in this city, and it's very important you keep it."

"Why? So you have somewhere to live for free?" Her jaw drops and I regret the words as soon as they leave my mouth, but I can't take them back now. "Listen Evelyn, I don't care that you're staying here, but you're not bringing your argumentative crap into my house where I'm living, not again. I'm an adult and I actively made the decisions I did, I don't regret it. Now I think it's time for you to get that. You are a guest here, and I will not be told what to do in my own home." She doesn't respond, but I can see her trying to digest everything I just said.

"So when you're ready to talk about what just happened and why I did the things I did, then you can feel free to come in and join us for lunch." I leave her standing in the hallway and enter the kitchen to find the little girl no longer at the table. My thoughts immediately went to a kidnapping, but if I was being rational, it was unlikely so I began my search. It was clear she wasn't in the kitchen, or the living room. I made my way down the hall and noticed immediately exactly where she was.

I push my bedroom door open further, having not left it open myself, it's an obvious tell. She stands there with her wet bath hair and my t-shirt on as a dress and I feel my throat constrict as I realise what's in her hands. My gun, black and intimidating in her innocent hands. I lunge for it and yank it from her fingers easily. It took a long time for me to decide indefinitely that I wouldn't use a gun again, and I hadn't been ready to give it up at first and now was the shocking reminder of why I did. Innocent people get hurt where guns are involved.

I move to my closet and shove it to the back of the top shelf and turn to the little girl whose name I still don't know. "Don't touch that." I say grabbing her and bringing her back out to the kitchen, closing my bedroom door firmly behind me. I begin to wrack my brains for any other weapons I might have laying about the apartment.

"Did you have a fight?" I freeze and look at the girl in slight shock, and she stares right back. I find myself having to refocus as I sit her down at the table and start heading towards the cupboards.

"Why would you think that?" I respond back, unsure what to tell her.

"Because you've got cuts all over."

"Ah, no." I reply, relief flooding over me as I realise she's noticed my battered appearance and not the yelling match that just occurred. "I actually had a bit of an accident. I fell and hurt myself." I explain as I gather bread, cheese and a frying pan. "Kids like grilled cheese right?" I say more to myself than anyone and cast a look her way for reassurance, but she doesn't acknowledge it.

"Did you break your arm?"

"Yes."

"Why?"

"I didn't choose to, I fell."

"How?"

"I jumped off a train."

"Why?" I stop in the middle of buttering the bread and turn to look at her.

"Because it's something I used to do all the time."

"Trains move fast." She stated, climbing off her chair and heading for the fridge. I watch as she makes herself at home and opens the fridge, throwing her whole body into the simple act, pulling out a carton of juice. "Why would you want to jump off one all the time?"

"It's how the Dauntless used to travel around the city." I respond as if it's obvious, forgetting for a moment that the city wasn't just the people of the factions anymore, it was likely she had no idea what I was talking about.

"What's a Dauntless?"

"A person." I respond.

"Can I have a glass please?" I hand her one from the cupboard and she places it on the counter, proceeding to shift onto her tip toes and pour the juice. "Then why don't you just say person?"

"Because not every person did it." I respond back taking the carton from her hands as the glass begins to near the dangerously full limit, capping it for good measure. "Don't fill it that full." I add, passing her the glass from the counter.

"But every Dauntless did it?"

"Yes."

"So were you a club?"

"Uh, something like that." I say, shoveling the grilled cheese onto a plate. She immediately tries to take the plate too, and I watch the juice slop around haphazardly in the glass, I take the plate from her grasp. "Go sit at the table, I'll bring the sandwich." She spins and I watch as juice splashes onto the floor. She stops and looks down at it.

"Oops." I feel my head drop and a laugh coming on, but I just scoot her towards the table and place the sandwich down and return to the juice spots on the floor, mopping them up quickly and returning to the stove to complete my own sandwich. It only takes a couple minutes with the pan heated up and I feel my stomach grumble, this certainly won't hold me, but it will still taste good.

I sit and am about to bite in to my sandwich when I notice her just staring at me expectantly, her lunch untouched. "What?" I ask.

"Ketchup?" I take a deep breath and get back up and open the fridge, grabbing the ketchup off the door. As I turn to place it on the table I hear "more juice please!". I immediately turn back around and grab the juice and fill her glass again.

"Is that everything?" I ask her, slightly irritated.

"Yes." She responds and I go put the juice back in the fridge. Thinking I'll finally be able to sit and eat my lunch in peace, I pick up my sandwich and take a bite. I hear a clatter and then a shatter and open my eyes slowly, not wanting to see what happened.

Her big blue eyes stare at me like a deer in the headlights as I lean to look at the floor. I hear the door open and am pleasantly surprised to see a frustrated looking Christina come in and stop, eying the situation in front of her. There's juice everywhere, half splashed across the table, the girl's sandwich is floating and her shirt soaked. Christina carefully crosses the room and lifts the girl from the chair, she proceeds to take her down the hall, leaving me to clean up the mess.

I stare at it grudgingly and eat the rest of my sandwich in silence. I can hear the two of them talking down the hall, but can't make out a word they're saying. As I shove the last piece into my mouth I drop my plate off in the sink and head for the broom to begin the clean-up. I'm surprised at how far the shards flew as I carefully evaluate the ground, not entirely impressed by the thought of a sharp of glass in my foot on top of everything else.

The pair of them reappear as I finish mopping up the last of the mess and dumping her soggy sandwich into the bin. "Claire would like to say sorry." Christina informs me. I see the girl, Claire, standing just behind her. I roll the name around a few times in my head, trying to decide for myself if she looked like a Claire or not.

"I'm sorry for dropping the juice." She says quietly, her eyes look like she had been crying, I realise I must look intimidating, all smashed up and annoyed. I smile, trying to reassure her.

"That's ok. Want another sandwich?" I ask and she nods, heading for a kitchen chair. I notice she has on another of my shirts, my favourite shirt. I say nothing but I secretly wish she wasn't. I didn't want juice down the front of that one too.

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><p>I took it upon myself to declare a few recovery days following the incident. The girl was picked up and placed in a foster home, no one able to match her to a family in the city. I felt a little guilty passing her off to them, but let's be honest, I don't exactly have the qualifications to be looking after a five year old girl. Maybe one day we would cross paths again, but now was not that time.<p>

They took her yesterday, she packed the little red suitcase we got her with some items everyone had bought - stuffed animals, clothes, a blanket and another couple toys. She cried when she left, and I felt like a terrible person, but I wouldn't be able to look after her properly, so I knew it was for the best. That decision haunted me for the rest of the day. I spent the night awake, and the morning exhausted and unable to suppress the guilty thoughts any longer.

Unfortunately for me, today was important enough that I was being summoned - no more grace days. There was to be an immigration meeting held. I suppose they had probably assessed the evidence from the explosion and had news on the people behind it. I was intrigued, so I gulped down the black coffee in my mug and got ready for work.

The car came at 8:15am on the dot, just as Johanna had said, meeting me at the edge of the drive. I carefully got in, my body still aching from the over-exertion of the days before. I was stiff and felt unable to move my limbs to their full extent, not to mention I still had a cast on one arm. The driver was the same man that drove us to every meeting and ceremony, he never said anything to me, though once or twice I could have sworn I heard him talking to Johanna.

The ride was quick and smooth, before I knew it we were pulling up in front of another office, a ceremonial building more than not, used only when guests from outside the city were attending. I got out and thanked the man who never spoke. I straightened the collar of my shirt, making sure it was properly folded and adjusted my blazer. I stared at the building for a moment and then took a deep breath, trying to mentally prepare for what was sure to be an intense debate filled morning.

Policies and immigrations, experiment cities and the attack on the building right next to our leader's office. Was that a coincidence? I think not, that black ring was definitely a message, and it was intended for us. Would these people see it as that? Did Johanna even take it as that? Johanna. This would be the first time I've faced the woman since my snap at her, I was not looking forward to it.

I climbed the steps that led up to the glass doors and made my way in. The receptionist inside smiled and greeted me with a friendly but formal 'Hello Mr. Eaton.". I nodded and made my way across the lobby to the elevator, jabbing the button for the third floor. I closed my eyes and tried to relax and breath as I thought about the small elevator and the fact that it was moving upwards. Two of four in one go, it doesn't get much better than this.

The elevator dings as the doors slide open, and I quickly step out, feeling myself calm almost immediately as my feet touch solid, unmoving floor. I make a line for the boardroom but I don't quite reach the doors and Johanna approaches me. "Tobias, may I speak with you?" I swallow hard, and wonder what it is she wants to tell me. I clear my throat before I speak, trying to seem indifferent about the whole situation.

"Certainly." She guides me away from the doors of the boardroom to the other side of the marbled hall.

"I think we need to speak about the other day before we go in there." I had been waiting for this, it was the moment I had been grudging since the minute I turned and walked away from her.

"What do we need to talk about?" I ask, my jaw tight.

"I want you to know I understand." I feel the look of shock enter my features before I have a chance to cover them up. "We've spent years building a faction system, generations lived and breathed it. It was foolish for me to think that a young man like yourself, who's spent so much time fighting in wars and running into chaos would recognise when it's okay to not dive in head first."

"They trained me to fight and to protect this city, I was taught to follow instincts. I worked intelligence for this city, my instincts are to dive in and investigate, find the people behind the threats to this city." I agreed. I had to hand it to her, the woman knew more than she let on. Johanna looks at me with indifference, and I'm not sure if I should continue speaking or just listen to whatever more she might have to say.

"Your actions were reasonable Tobias, but I feel that part of that incident is my fault." I frown, how did she get herself into that picture at all? The actions were decisions on my own. "I feel that maybe I haven't expressed your importance to this city enough."

"I appreciate the comment, but really Johanna, it's nothing you did." I assure her, she's beginning to sound like my mother and I wonder if Evelyn went to her afterwards.

"I want you to enter this meeting as a partner, not a shadow." Her statement baffles me for a moment. This conversation has taken a turn I was not expecting at all. "I'm giving you the title of Deputy Mayor, if you'll accept it. I want your input on these matters and I think your past qualifications make you perfectly suited for the position." I stand there gawking at her, unsure what to say. No longer an assistant, a partner, a real leadership position in this city. I finally find my voice and respond as casually as I can.

"I- absolutely." Is all that manages to come out, and a smile spreads across her features she passes me a blue box. I open it and find a gold pin, just like the one Johanna wears on her jacket - the group of factions. No longer were there rings dividing them, separating them like the factions once were, the factions were one. The pin was circular and featured the emblems I knew all too well, the same ones that were permanently inked into my back. Lines connected them together, in a web of sorts, showing the power of us all, no longer standing alone.

"May I?" She asks, gesturing to the pin, I nod and she removes it from the box and pins it to my lapel. I can't help feeling bad for the comments I made to both my mother and Johanna that day.

"Johanna," I start as she straightens my jacket, "I apologise, for that comment the other day. It was uncalled for." She nods in understanding, always understanding that woman, I had seriously underestimated her in everything. She was powerful in a different sort of way than Jeanine, Marcus or Evelyn, a more genuine way.

"Now, we've got a meeting to attend, are you ready?" I nod and we head for the doors again, this time, we pass through and settle ourselves at the large board table. I normally would have sat in the corner and listened to the meeting, taking notes on whatever I thought was important, but I notice there's no one there today, and I feel eyes on me as the people start to fill in - this new position has gone very noticed. I begin to wonder if Johanna had an ulterior motive to this unexpected promotion.

I realize as the people start to arrive, there is a lot of leaders that will need convincing here. The leaders of the Fringe factions, their looks deadly and their expressions sour. Some of them speak amongst each other, and it's clear to me why I'm here - Chicago stands alone.

_**A/N - P.S. Any ideas of what to call Johanna's position? I went with Mayor and Deputy mayor because I wasn't sure but it seems odd to me, like because of the situation she has more power than that - tell me what you think! **_


	3. Chicago Falls

**_A/N - Firstly, thanks to everyone who has reviewed, favourited or followed you're awesome! I hope this chapter is ok, I promise there's more exciting stuff ahead. This was my first real 'blaaahhh' nanowrimo chapter where I didn't feel like writing, but we got it cranked out so here we are! R&R flames welcome!_**

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><p><em>Deliverance<em>

_Part One - Marked_

_Chapter Three - Chicago Falls_

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><p>The meeting begins as the last eager looking assistant clambers into the room, taking their seat behind their leader. All and all there sat twelve guests at the giant mahogany boardroom table, they all appeared to know the others in some regard, I could sense the tension between some and the companionship between others and it made me nervous for the outcome.<p>

Johanna speaks to me in hushed tones. "There's been more incidents." I give her an alarmed look and motion for her to continue. Why had no one told me this? "Here's the files, take a look through it." She says calmly, sliding two blue folders over the table to me.

I open the folder and I feel like I'm going to be sick. The black mark has resurfaced. It wasn't another explosion, of that, I am relieved, but it's beginning to look like the preparations for war, of that, I am scared. There are pictures of an area I recognise _very_ well, a place where I spent days - Dauntless compound. I feel a lump in my throat as I think of the first time I had ever seen Tris there, the pictures before me show all of the training areas torched. The targets are destroyed, the punching bags and mats are incinerated, you would have never known they were there.

In the middle of all the pictures is the same gruesome sign - a large black ring, the mark of whoever was responsible for this. There are notes that accompany the pictures, the scrawl is hard to decipher, but I can make out most of it and it makes the hairs rise on my neck. _'Missing: unknown amount - Firearms, unknown amount - blades, unkown amount - ammunition...'_ the list goes on and I feel my stomach dropping, I know there isn't need to read the rest of the list. Everything. Whoever this was, was now in control of enough weapons to mobilize an army.

I can't keep looking at this folder so I close the blue front on it and try to erase the images from my mind. I move to the next folder to find more pictures, this is an area I'm a little less familiar with but I recognise it all the same - Erudite. The black mark mars the clean surfaces of a lab and the torn apart shelves of a library. I look for a list like the last folder, whoever wrote this list has a more legible hand than the last and it's much easier to read. _'Missing: 3 Vials of high grade Fear Serum, 1 vial of Bureau confiscated Death Serum, 5 Vials of Memory Serum...'_ The list goes on, covering some of nearly all the different serums currently in possession of our labs.

I slipped the following page out from behind the photographs, another list - as if the serums and the weapons weren't enough, it looked like there was records gone too. I'd have to ask Caleb what exactly all the numbers and names meant on this list, but I was certain they were probably all pertaining to the serums that had been stolen from the labs. I seriously felt sick, what a great time to come into a leadership role - as the city is slowly falling apart. I closed the folder and processed the information, there was just so much to take in, why hadn't anyone told me what was going on? I had spent the last few days trying to run after a five year old when I could have been figuring out who we were going to war with!

The group silenced as Johanna stood. "As some of you may have heard by now, Chicago found itself the victim of a brutal attack this past week. Our intelligence department has been investigating it and observing the city closely. This meeting today is to discuss the options and the information we have found and the precautions that need to be implemented for the safety of the people." Johanna cast me a glance at the words 'intelligence department' and I knew then why I was promoted. Collection.

I was unsure about these other leaders, but some of them reminded me of the dangerous likes of Jeanine, I made mental notes of who they were and decided it would be good to discuss this with Johanna later. Very few of these people looked trustworthy, and I found myself sitting on the edge of my seat, expecting them to jump at us at any moment. I wasn't entirely sure what Johanna was hoping to get out of this meeting, as far as I was concerned, it was unlikely we were to get any amount of cooperation from this people. Add the fact that we are in leagues with the Bureau and I'm not entirely sure it's not one of them attacking us.

A woman with blond hair in a black suit spoke then. Her appearance was rough looking, and the suit she wore looked unnatural on her, like she had to go out and get it just for this meeting. "And why is Chicago our concern? I chose not to live in your city for a reason. The bureau still has their filthy little hands all over this place, you can practically smell it in the air! Our priorities are for our people and our people alone. As far as we're concerned you're irrational for thinking you can re-build this city. Every other experiment in the surrounding area collapsed in choas and death, what makes you think you can salvage this one?"

Other Fringe leaders nodded in agreement with her and I took special note of who they were and how they reacted exactly. This woman had pull, most of the table seemed to be in agreement with her, I would take special note of her actions through this meeting. The man that had entered with the blonde woman was clearly her biggest supporter, undoubtedly they were in charge of their sector. He was a large, burly man, and the suit he wore stretched at his shoulders as if they were too wide for it. He was strong and he wore his scars like medals of war, most of the other leaders were afraid to look directly at him I realised.

"We warned you before and we'll warn you now. Leave the city. The Bureau will corrupt you and control you once more, it's only a matter of time. Karen is right, you aren't our concern, don't expect us to come helping if you end up in battle." Karen. She didn't look like a Karen, but I didn't dwell on that very long, at least I knew the name of one person at the table. He spoke in a threatening tone, as if they city itself was going to be under his attack. This was a power duo, they would have to be watched. Though their words definitely didn't escape my attention, I was fairly certain his words weren't a threat but a rather annoyed man repeating a warning for the umpteenth time.

Another man spoke now, a short round man that wore an over the top purple suit and a thick gold chain around his neck as if he was some kind of mafia man. He seemed slimy to me, but he sat alone, easier to sway a single person than a duo. "There must be some real reason you called this meeting. My area has been compliant and in relations with this city from the time it began to re-establish itself. Forgive me, but are you trying to insinuate that some of our people may have been behind that attack?" murmurs sprang up all around the room and people began to look to Johanna for answers.

Johanna spoke now, her voice calm and assuring, a brilliant leader if there ever was one.

"Forgive me Barry, I merely meant it should be considered that this group of people or this person may reach out into the Fringe for followers, it may be wise to consider that we are a united force against a single enemy."

"You're in leagues with the Bureau, how are we supposed to trust you or anything you have to say? For all we know this is some Bureau plot to get us all to join the experiment." a brunette woman spat from the end of the table I sat on.

Johanna is faltering slightly and I know she's trying to consider everything but the time isn't granting it. If she doesn't make a move soon she'll lose them all.

"We know the Bureau isn't anyone's favourite - believe me, they are the last people I'd ever want to come into... agreement with." I say now, choosing my words carefully. "This meeting isn't about the Bureau, this meeting is about the attacks on innocent people."

"You're that kid that attacked the Bureau!" Another man I didn't recognise exclaimed, as if it was the only thing he had been thinking about since he entered the room. Eyes are upon him as he jumps up pointing at me.

"Yes." I respond, levelling him with a serious look. "And I understand what qualms you have with the idea of siding anywhere near the Bureau. We're looking into the explosion that happened next to our parliament offices in broad daylight." The group seems interested now, but I'm not sure if it's with the exclamation of Barry or what I'm saying.

"Anyone who attacks the Bureau is good in my books." A coloured man at the end of the table says, nodding in my direction. "Continue boy, let's hear it."

"The most concerning matters on hand are still under investigation, the intelligence department is, I imagine, working at maximum capacity to find out those answers. My experience in intelligence has told me a few things about these incidents. We need to consider the fact that this city came to a state of resolution without the help of the Bureau. Believe me, I made sure of it." There was silence in the room, I hadn't accumulated this many spectators since my days training Dauntless initiates.

"The fact of the matter is that these incidents occurred after the influx of people coming and going from the city began. Predominantly these people are from the Fringe, this is a statistic proven by our immigration sector. I'm not blaming anyone for what has happened, the events have been tragic, and there are a lot of people dead or in our medical facilities receiving treatment in repercussion to these actions." I let that sink in, and I watch the expressions change around the table and try to remember _how_ they change.

"So you think the people of the Fringe are responsible for this?" Barry demands, looking angered.

"I _think _sir, that we need to consider a freeze on immigration."

"You already granted us open pass to your city. This cuts off a lot of people from a lot of services, you can't just do that!" someone shouts, but I didn't catch who. There is conversation at the table and Johanna comes to my side.

"Do you truly believe that this is the answer?" I nod.

"Johanna, until we figure out who's behind this, we could just be letting more of them in." The man who sits next to me is listening in and he speaks now.

"More of _them?_" he asks. I nod.

"Well it's clear it's a group behind it." I reason, and a few people nearby stop chatting to listen in on my conversation with the man I don't know.

"Son-"

"Four." I correct him.

"Like the number?" He responds, confused.

"Exactly." He gives me a look and continues from where he was.

"There is hardly any evidence released, are you saying you _know_ it's a group?" I think for a moment. Am I sure? The Dauntless compound is full of cameras, it would have taken more than one person to disable all of them and collect all of the items they did. It wasn't like they were stored in boxes, they hung on display, easy to grab in case of emergency, sure some of them were in crates, but the majority of the weapons were distributed through various rooms and would need to be collected before they could have been taken and transported.

I imagine most people would think those things were locked up, kept in lockers and crates under heavily guarded surveillance. That wasn't the case, we used them on a daily basis, they were open to the taking for any Dauntless who wanted to train, and initiate that wanted extra practise, hell, any Dauntless born child that wanted to hone their skills. When the faction system was in place it was smart, it kept the protectors sharp, the weapons in top condition, always being used and cared for. Now I can't believe how stupid we were.

"Yes." I answer, Johanna looks a little shocked. "Yes, I'm completely sure, there's no way it couldn't have been."

"So you're seriously considering implementing an immigration freeze?" I look to Johanna, and she's silently, looking at me as if trying to decide to trust me or not. Half the table has turned to stare at this man's exclamation and I'm waiting as the rest of them are to hear what her verdict is. She turns and faces the table, surveying the people in front of her, finally landing on the man who made the exclamation.

"Yes. If we can contain the people we have a better chance of narrowing down who is responsible for this. We need to know that you will stand by our decision and hold your people for a period of time -" She's cut off by the furious cries of nearly all the people at the table. I had been trying to decide if I should hold on to the information or let it be known, the information from the files. I've made my decision.

"Someone is out there with enough weapons to mobilize an army." I say quietly, but those near me hear and turn to face me, their eyes panicked at my words.

"What?" The man beside me demands. I clear my throat and speak again, louder this time.

"Someone is out there with enough weapons to mobilize an army." I can't help but let out a small nervous laugh as the severity of it finally, completely sinks in. "Someone is out there... with an army." I look to them now, and they sit silently. I take in the faces around the table and to my dismay it would appear that we're either in leagues with a bunch of really good liars or none of these people are in leagues with whoever is doing this. "For the safety of Chicago's people, for the safety of _your_ people," I put the emphasis on where it would get them - their people. "the best thing you can do for the people is implement this immigration freeze."

There wasn't much debate or arguing past that. There was a heavy silence that hung above us all, the severity of the situation. No longer was their an electric air of smart-ass comments and loose attitudes towards this meeting, it was heavy and suffocating. I thought about Claire, then as we sat there, her big eyes and brown hair staring up at me from that corner as we choked on the air we breathed. I had to shake my head to get the image out. I stood then. "I need a moment, and I suggest you all take a moment to think on this as well."

I head out into the hall again, the bright sunlight patches that gleam across the marble floors are a welcome refreshment from the confines of that room. "Tobias, Tobias!" I hear Johanna shout, her heels clacking behind me, a notice of her presence before she even said a word. I turn and face her, as she rushes across the hallway towards where I now stand gazing out on the city. "What do you know?" She asks me urgently, looking over her shoulder to see if anyone had followed us out.

"Johanna, they took everything." I start and she immediately responds.

"No, we have more weapons, more serums, that wasn't everything."

"Johanna, do you know how many weapons Dauntless had? They held the _whole city's _cache, firearms, blades, grenades you name it, it was there. It armed an army once, and it appears it has armed yet another." I explain, running my hand across my cropped hair. "They wrecked our training facility, we can't even train a new army! It will take weeks to get that equipment replaced, we might not have the time. We are open for the taking." I look out on the city, the people milling about on the street below, carrying on with their daily lives, no idea what could happen to them. Silence sits between us for a minute, and she looks out to watch the same things I am: our city.

"And you're sure it's a group?" she finally asks.

"Positive, those weapons would have had to have been collected, packed up and then taken, not to mention the cameras disabled and then the training areas lit on fire. There's no way one person could have done all of that and not got caught. The same applies with the Erudite compound, their labs and experiment areas would, I imagine, be monitored closely. It took some serious planning and a lot of people to pull this off."

"Tobias, they may have stopped complaining in there, but that hardly says they're going to agree with us."

"What happens if they don't?" I ask her, turning to look at her.

"Then we'll have done all we can, if we get the majority we then take it to the Bureau and another meeting will take place. We'll present our rationale, if all goes well they'll agree. A treaty will then be drawn up and the parties in agreement will sign declaring, most likely, that their people will not be allowed within the city confines for a period of time." She explained. I didn't know how this would all work, I hadn't been her assistant through any big decisions like this.

"And what about the ones that don't sign?" She shrugs and looks out the window again.

"Who knows Tobias, that will be up to the Bureau." That was a souring thought, I pictured in my mind Karen and her strongman at battle with us, it wouldn't be pretty. What would the Bureau do? Would the agreement collapse? Could it collapse? Did they even care? I mean they basically left us for years to do whatever it was that we did be it slaughter one and other or destroy the factions, they let us go to war with ourselves. Who's to say they wouldn't let it happen again?

We turned as we heard the door open and Karen and her strongman, along with their assistant, a scrawny guy with taped up glasses appeared. They were yelling back at someone in the boardroom. "Oh, be damned if you see me siding with anyone! As far as I'm concerned this city can rot! There isn't a soul in this city that hasn't been corrupted by the Bureau!" They headed towards the elevator and never even looked back. I felt my hopes beginning to fade, that was one set we wouldn't have on our side.

We headed back for the boardroom, and just as Johanna reached for the door, it flew open, smacking her in the face and sending her stumbling backwards. I easily steadied her and turned on the person who caused the problem and felt my stomach drop. It wasn't one person but multiple. "I'm not going to war with anyone, Chicago is on it's own." Barry shouted, waving his hands dramatically.

They walked past and as I counted them, I realised there was only two people left, sitting at the table. We entered the room to see the coloured man who thought 'anyone who attacked the Bureau was good' and then the man who proclaimed that I was in on the attack. Something told me it was going to be difficult to convince these men to come to the Bureau. The coloured man stood and introduced himself. "My name is Kevin, now tell me a little more about these attacks." I feel like the time is wasted now, but I progress and begin to explain the details.

"There have been three attacks to date. Each one has -" The door slams open, and the lady from the front reception is breathing heavily, her shoes in her hands.

"The school is on fire!" She shouts, and we start to run.

The driver was sitting outside for us to finish the meeting, but the meeting was over now and we piled into the car all screaming at the man. I'm not sure which of us he heard, but he stomped on the gas and we jerked around, none of us with seat belts on.

We could see the flames as the school came into view. You could smell the smoke in the air again and I was glad I wasn't experiencing it like I was last time. We tumbled out of the car and were met by Zeke and his team. "They're out, everyone is out and accounted for!" He shouted over the sounds of chaos to us. I felt relief wash over me, at least one thing was going right today.

I was reassured of his statement when I was attacked by a small mess of brown hair shrieking at the top of her lungs. A teacher ran towards us as I picked her up and she fell silent. It was like deja vu, I could smell the smoke in the air and her little arms were wrapped tight around my neck.

"I am so sorry, she wouldn't stay lined up with the kids, I turned around and she was gone." The woman spoke quickly, clearly embarrassed by the situation.

"It's fine." I respond and pull Claire out from my body to look at her.

"You need to go with your teacher so you can go home Claire."

"I don't want to." She said stubbornly. "I want to go home with you."

"You can't come home with me, I'm working."

"Then why are you here?"

"Because this is what I'm working on."

"Burning the school down?"

"No, trying to figure out who did it."

"Are you a police officer?"

"No." I respond, setting her down.

"Then why are you investigating?"

"Because I need to."

"Why?"

"Claire, I just need you to go with your teacher. I can't take you with me." Her eyes get teary and I feel the guilt slamming down on me again.

"Because you don't want me with you?" She blubbers, tears falling freely now.

"No, of course that's not why. Look, sometimes we have to do things that we don't like doing, like right now, you have to go with your teacher." I stand and I walk away, before I make a bad decision or say something even more stupid than I already have. The teacher takes her hand and leads her away and I don't dare to look back as the sound of her sobs gets further and further from me.

Johanna eyes me, as I stare in the opposite direction of the fire. At first it was to avoid looking at Claire, but then I saw it. The black mark. What the hell did they need from a school? Were they in it for the sheer terror now? I didn't understand how they were planning their attacks, the political offices, the Dauntless and Erudite compounds, they all made sense, but a school? Who would risk the lives of all these children? What the hell was even at the school that they couldn't get from the regular library?

My head was swarming with what-ifs and how's and why's by the time the emergency team was beginning to get the flames under control. What the hell was going on?


	4. Remember

**_A/N - So I apologise in advance if there are some mistakes in this chapter. I fell behind a couple days on Nanowrimo as a result this chapter hasn't been combed through as many times as the other ones, so if you notice anything let me know! Please R&R, let me know what you're liking and disliking about this! Also shout-out to all you lovelies that have favourited, followed and reviewed I'm glad some of you are enjoying it!_**

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><p><em>Deliverance<em>

_Part One - Marked_

_Chapter 4 - Remember_

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><p>I went home to my mother sitting on the living room sofa reading a battered looking book and drinking tea out of a giant coffee mug. She frowned at me as I came in, kicking my shoes off and pulling my tie loose from around my neck. I must have looked as frazzeled as I felt.<p>

"How was work today?" She asked, sliding a bookmark into her book and setting it down beside her.

"I got a promotion." I say, and her eyebrows raise.

"Really? What kind of promotion?" She asks, I can see her eyes latch on to the pin on my lapel. "Is that..." She trails off, rising from the sofa and making her way towards me. "Is that what I think it is?" She says, running her thumb over the face of the gold pin, her eyes aglow. I nod, and I can't help but forget the other events of today and smile a little myself.

"It is." I respond. "You're looking at the new deputy mayor." I say, throwing my hands out to my side as if to say 'do I look any different? Do I?'. Her arms embrace me tightly as the words leave my mouth and I feel a little more relaxed. The moment is short lived, as she pulls back, a frown on her face.

"Why do you smell like," she leans in and sniffs my jacket, "smoke." She finishes, looking up at me. The moment of happiness is gone and in turn, its place is filled with despair.

"There was another attack." I respond.

"Another explosion?" She asks, alarmed.

"No, there's been a few attacks, and today the school was lit on fire. Their motive is getting more and more clouded, the first few at least made some sort of sense." Her jaw drops and I feel her grip on my arms slacken.

"Oh my gosh." She chokes out and turns to make her way back to the couch once more.

"Everyone got out ok, but it's the same people as the last ones."

"Last _ones_?_' _ she repeats, looking at me. I now realise that it's not that no one told me these other attacks happened, it's that the new hadn't been released, and with the areas being on the outer edges of the city, it was less likely people knew about it, and thus, the public announcement hadn't been made yet. I eyed Evelyn as she sat on the sofa and questioned whether or not I should tell her, was she trust-worthy? How many times in the past had she been a problem, hell, what if she was the one behind these attacks?

I felt a shiver run up my spine at that thought, and tried to press the unwanted images away. I hung my blazer up on the hooks by the front door. Could I tell her? Was this supposed to be confidential? Surely Johanna would have told me if it was supposed to be, I decide and kick my shoes off. I sigh as my feet are finally released from the bounds of the leather shoes, how I hated them, I would love to be wearing my boots again.

"Yeah, the last _ones._" I respond, mimicking how she had said it. "There were two other attacks, no one was involved with them as they were in the outer edges of the city, no one was hurt."

"Well that's a plus." She responds optimistically, grabbing her mug and taking a sip of her tea. She motions for me to join her, as if this is all gossip an rumours being exchanged between friends.

"They took a lot of very important things." I respond back seriously, making my way to the other end of the leather sofa. She frowns into her mug and I wait for her to swallow the mouthful of tea she just took.

"What kind of things are left in the old compounds? I thought most of that stuff had been transferred into the new buildings?" I grimace because I know that's what most of the public thinks too, and when they find out about these other attacks there will be a lot of explaining to do. And how do you explain to a city that you were naive and thought they would be okay where they were for a period of time? It wouldn't be easy.

"Well, not... everything." I hesitate, wondering still if I should let her in on the details or not. I bite down on the inside of my cheek and think hard about it. She stares at me now and I know I have to make a choice. "The basics were taken into new buildings. The stuff that was needed to continue growth, anything that was something of a single faction's use or wasn't useful in the reconstructing was left." I began.

"Ok, so what was left behind?" She looks concerned now, and she should. I look at my hands now as I rest my elbows on my knees and stare at the cast, taking in the dings and scratches on it as if it was suddenly the most interesting thing in the world. "Tobias?" I run them through my cropped hair, my fingers feeling the subtle prickle and look back up at her.

"Weapons. As you can imagine they weren't something people wanted to see around after everything that happened, so they were just kind of... left." I finish lamely, there was no excuse for it, they should have been locked down and secured and moved to another location, not somewhere so painfully obvious.

"Weapons!" She's silent for a moment, I can see her processing the information. "How many weapons?" She finally asks, but she looks like she already knows the answer to that.

"All of Dauntless'"

"Did they take anything else?" I nod.

"They also visited Erudite where they ransacked the labs in search of left over serums. They were out of date and no longer in use, mostly testing serums, but they also got their hands on some first generation death serum, memory serum and the likes. By the time Erudite labs were ready to move along, they had already been advanced and their changes recorded and studied, they weren't of any immediate use. Everything that was needed from them had been taken. The intent was to eventually go back and clear out everything, just not right away." I don't know whether she looks shocked or angry as I tell her these things.

"That's not it, is it?" She asks, gripping her mug tightly in her hands. I shake my head and I open up again, noting her white knuckles as I do so.

"They also visited the Erudite library and took a bunch of research documents and papers. The items that were recorded as missing were a series of numbers and letters, I'll have to look into what it was that was taken specifically. I imagine the numbers are some kind of catalog system but they tell me nothing." She nods, but I can see her jaw is clenched and she's not taking this information well.

"You're angry." I state and she glares daggers at me, as if I have no right to state that.

"Of course I'm angry!" She snaps, placing her mug down noisily on the coffee table. "It all could have been prevented, this is what happens when a government fails." I can hear the venom in her words as she spits them out distastefully, her cheeks are flushed and I can see her muscles clenching and unclenching through her body. I hadn't seen her angry like this in a long time, before she left those many many years ago. She wasn't even this angry when we had our shouting match in the hallway, this was new, this was deep.

"Well as far as I'm concerned, this government was doing great things. _We_ are helping this city grow and this is a small bump in the road, the city will get past it." I respond, emphasising 'we' in hopes she realises that her son is now considered 'government'. But she seems past things like that, and I don't think it will matter how hard I try to convince her that things aren't all that bad yet, she's made her decisions. I leave her to her thoughts and stand, she hardly realises as I make my way to my bedroom, relieved to be alone with my thoughts for the first time today.

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><p>The burning of the school hadn't gone unnoticed, neither did the presence of so many fringe leaders. The Bureau came knocking, and we found ourselves summoned to the last place on Earth I ever wanted to be. Johanna told me the next morning when I had came into her office to go over the day's plans.<p>

"We've got few plans for today. We'll meet and begin planning the new reconstruction of the school, for now the children have been relocated to the old Candor compound, the mock court rooms are perfect for the use as a lecture hall, Erudite would have been the obvious choice, but we don't want anyone stumbling upon the remains of the attack." I nod in understanding and she continues. "Then you'll be free to go home and we'll meet up at 6:00am tomorrow, we'll be there to pick you up." I frown as she says it.

"What do you mean 'we'll be there to pick you up'? And what do you mean few plans? We're rebuilding a city, there should be tons to do here!" She looks uncomfortable, looking anywhere but at me until finally I grab her wrist and her head jerks around. "Johanna, what's going on?" I as her, levelling her with a steady gaze.

"The Bureau has summoned us." I feel like the floor just dropped out from under my feet and my stomach has flown into my throat.

"Ok, well someone should stay to keep the fort right? You go ahead and I'll just stay here and keep things running." I say hurriedly, but from the look on her face, I know there isn't an option. From the looks on her face I know this is it, the moment I had been dreading for so long.

"I know you don't want to go back there, but there really isn't a choice. You wanted to be a leader in this community, you need to play the role and that includes going to the Bureau when they summon us." I swallow hard, but the lump in my throat doesn't leave, I'm still not entirely convinced it's not my stomach. Going back. I feel the hairs on the back of my neck stand and I can't shake the horrible feeling I have. "Get on to your office, finish your paperwork from the other day and I'll call on you when we're ready to discuss the school."

"Surely there's some way for me to not go, I mean, they consider me a _rebel_ there still, I blew up part of their home! They're not going to want me there again!" I try to convince her.

"Tobias, you're going, there's nothing I can do about it." She locks me in her stare and I feel trapped like a fly on honey. "And besides, they don't remember that. Stop trying to get out of this." She scolds me, dismissing me with a wave of her hand.

I stand, and I feel like the air is made of molasses, each move is slow and scraping, forced and draining me of energy. Christina must have seen it as she stands outside my office just like every morning, two steaming coffees in her hands just like every other day. She smiles at first and then it falters and she looks concerned as I take the coffee she holds out.

"What's up?" She asks, pulling up her usual chair and kicking her feet up once we're in my office. "You're out of her office early and you look miserable. Why are you miserable? I seen the new sign on your door, woohoo deputy mayor!" She cheers, trying to improve my mood, but it successfully fails.

"I have to go back." I respond, staring at my thumbnail, trying to look anywhere but directly at her. She's silent for a moment and her feet come off the desk, and she scoots forward.

"You don't mean..." I nod as she trails off into silence.

"I have to go back to the Bureau tomorrow." I state, letting those words sink in for all that their worth. "I don't know if I'll be able to do it." I say quietly, the realisation hitting me hard as I repeat those words over and over again. I look at Christina now and I feel myself beginning to panic, I don't want to see those people again, I don't want to see those things again, those last halls she walked, those last places we talked. It had been just over two years, and I know I should be over it, but it was a little more easy to move on and get over things when I was nowhere near the spot where everything happened, nowhere near those places. This was going to change everything.

"You can do this Four, or are you now Five?" I search her eyes for some hint of an answer. But I knew the answer, I had revisited my fear scape over and over again. I rest my chin down on the desk now and I feel miserable as I think about tomorrow's events. This is really going to happen.

"I feel like a Five now." I respond sourly, staring at my paper cup, the steam still pouring from the top. This doesn't seem to surprise Christina. She scoffs.

"And the legend becomes more human every day!" She announces, as if we have an audience, looking around the room before she turns on me again. "Come on Four get it together. You've conquered wars, and serums, and fears and a whole lot of _shit_." She slams her cup down on the desk and the coffee sloshes up onto the lid. "If anyone can do this it's you." She states matter of factly and I hate her for it. I groan as I know she will just continue.

"No, I can't!" I shout back, a little childishly if I'm being completely honest. She smacks the side of my head and I frown at her.

"Smarten up!" she exclaims, leaning back once more and resuming her usual boots on desk state. Her coffee is in her hands once more and she's chugging it down like it's water. "You didn't seriously think you'd be able to get this job and then never go to the Bureau did you?" she finally asks.

"Honestly," I admit,"I hadn't thought that far ahead." I feel a little foolish now about the whole thing, how could I have thought I would just sail through life without revisiting that despicable place?

"You have to at least try. You don't know until you try." She responds, standing as she looks at her watch, a new addition to her wardrobe - they probably threatened to fire her if she was late again. "Anyways, I've got to go, you can tell me all about your trip when you get back." She heads for the door, opening it a crack and then turning back a moment before leaving. "It'll be okay, everything will be okay. Just don't do anything stupid, alright?" She gives me a smile, but I can see it in her eyes that it's dampened with sadness. Sometimes I'm selfish and I forget that they're without her too and for a moment I feel bad burdening her with my childish rantings but I don't have long to dwell on it as there's a knock on the door and more paperwork lands on my desk.

* * *

><p>We sit in uncomfortable silence in a Jeep that jostles us around as we bounce over the dirt road, well worn down by the recent influx of travel in and out of the city. I stare blankly ahead, waiting for the moment the building becomes a speck on the horizon, anticipating the feelings that will come. I clench my jaw, as some small talk starts between the driver and Johanna. I was grateful at the very least that they weren't trying to talk to me.<p>

I spoke too soon. A few minutes pass and soon Johanna is directing her attention to me. "Tobias, what do you think about these attacks, do you have any new ideas?" I swallow hard and try to focus on what she's asking and not on where we're headed.

"Well, it's definitely a group. They definitely had some idea where to find what they were looking for, so they either have inside information, or they've been observing us for a while. I guess that doesn't really narrow it down much." I shrug, trying to go back to my silence, my calm before what was sure to be the storm.

"Do you really think they're building an army?" I scoff, how dumb could she be? Of course they're building an army!

"Without a doubt, they're gearing up for war as we speak, planning their next mode of attack. The question isn't are they building an army, it's what are they building it with?" She sits on that for a while but returns with a comment I don't expect.

"Our past." She whispers, turning to look out her window for a moment. When she turns back to me, she opens her mouth like she's going to say something but doesn't say anything, instead she lets out a breathe of air and then frowns, opening her mouth to speak once more. "They're taking everything from our past, and I'm not sure if that makes them dangerous or stupid. Most of that equipment has been updated and wasn't needed, that's why it was left there. In that sense, what does that make us? Are we fools? Should we have anticipated something like this so soon after we came to peace?" She ponders aloud.

"I think it makes us flawed." I say quite calmly.

"Flawed?" She asks confused. "I thought you didn't like the term 'Genetically Damaged'?"

"I don't mean it like that." I say hurriedly. "I mean, we thought ourselves gilded. We were bright and shiny and peaceful, but you know, _I_ know that peace doesn't last, no matter how hard you try. We thought ourselves strong and powerful, overcoming violence and the fall of the factions and the world we knew crashing down around us. We thought that would be enough to keep the wolves at bay, but the truth is no matter how many _Divergents_ the world has, they will still come to battle with each other one day. We were naive, who would attack us when we were finally settling into peace without all the 'faction before blood' crap." I settle back in my seat again, and look out the window, trying to avoid the continuation of this conversation but it's easy to tell it's just beginning.

"Gilded." She repeats the word, testing it on her tongue as if it was foreign. We relapse into silence, and I'm thankful to be with my own thoughts again. I try to enjoy these moments, this time before we get to the dreaded moments, before we get to the Bureau. There isn't much longer. I recognise the area we are coming into and a feel my stomach begin to make it's way into my throat, it was a terrible feeling.

There it is, a speck on the horizon, slowly getting closer and closer to us. I feel like I'm going to be sick, so I lean forward and rest my head on the back of Johanna's seat and close my eyes, trying to take deep breaths. When I look up again I know it's too late to prepare, because we're here. This is the Bureau, barbed wire fences and grey bricks. This was it.


	5. Memories

_**A/N - So I'm finally getting caught up with Nanowrimo again, so I actually pretty near have the next chapter done and ready to go, 25,000 word mark today so hopefully the next few chapters will be up quick. Let me know what you guys think, at times I feel like I might be drawing things out too long or writing too much political crap. Anyways, here it is - enjoy!**_

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><p><em>Deliverance<em>

_Part One - Marked_

_Chapter 5 - Memories_

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><p>It looked the same, nothing had changed here, things had been repaired, but the structure still stood as it did before. The workers still wore their coloured uniforms, I felt it was kind of ironic, we were supposed to be the experiments and yet, here they were divided like the factions, free to mill about in daily life but ultimately they belonged to one sector and one sector alone. No wonder so many experiments failed, this was the blind leading the blind.<p>

We approached the metal detectors after being escorted from the Jeep, I recognised some of the faces that approached us in the halls and it made me feel sick. I felt like the air was being sucked out of my lungs, every step was like I was taking it with Tris all over again. Like the very first time we got here, when we began to find out what was happening here. How that visit had changed my outlook, my personal world was destroyed because of these people.

I swallowed hard, feeling like I was going to puke as I drop my shoes and my bag into the box at the side and step through the metal box. I stop on the other side and the man standing security waves me through. I retrieve my belongings on the other side and focus hard on putting my shoes on, putting all my energy into the small things, trying desperately not to think about where I am. I'll have to face it soon enough, at least for a few more minutes I can pretend it's not happening, that everything is still ok.

Then she approaches us and I feel my stomach drop, I had been hoping that at the very least the faces we would see would be not so familiar. I knew eventually we would probably see David, I knew eventually I would have to see these people again, but I was really hopeful it wouldn't be until I had gotten somewhat uncomfortably settled into the place again.

Yet here we were standing face to face with the last person in the world I wanted to be standing face to face with. Nita. She sits next to Zoe in her wheelchair and I forget for a moment that her memory is gone as she smiles sweetly. I guess that's just how my luck is, one step ahead and then two steps back, or so it would seem as of late. I don't thin Johanna knows the connection when we lock eyes and I'm sure my look is very distasteful. Johanna prods me in the side and gives me a warning look, as if to say 'smarten up', but I can't help it, she is the symbol that marks the start of everything that happened.

"Four." She nods in my direction. My teeth are locked so tight together my jaw is beginning to ache, and I nod back, hardly moving as I do so. She knows. Somehow she knows and I feel my anger bubbling to the surface again. "Let me show you to your accommodations. We'll get together and meet again in about an hour and begin the meeting with David." David. I feel as though the name is poison on my tongue. David. David. David. I repeat it over and over again, and I can see Tris' body in my mind, laying on the steel table, motionless and cold.

They had told me she made it through the Death Serum, that it wasn't what killed her, and after seeing the surveillance tapes, I know. I was proud of her though, through all my sadness I was proud of her, in the back of my mind I suppose I knew that's what she was going to do. She wasn't the type to let someone go in her place, even if it was her back stabbing brother. But she was strong until the very end, she fought through the serum, I watched her stumble and I could see her fire as her body fought. She did it though, no one else could do that.

Zoe and Nita guide us through the halls and I see the remnants of our attack, the poorly matched bricks that have rebuilt the walls that we brought down. I felt guilt in this building, incomparable guilt and it was heavy. Between Uriah and Tris, my mood had soured considerably and my body felt heavy and weighed down. Even though I apologised, even though amends had somewhat been made I still knew what I did and it was terrible.

A few people waved at us as we walked the halls, I didn't know what to think, so I didn't wave back, I hardly looked at them to be honest, I just kept moving forward, my eyes focused ahead as if I was walking in a tunnel. Johanna smiles or waves as they pass, like they're old friends meeting again. We proceeded until we begin to reach the halls I recognise, curtains that were faded and slightly frayed, the old hotel. This was the last place I really wanted to be.

They showed me what room I would be staying in, and then left. Leaving me alone, guiding Johanna along with them. Nita glances back over her shoulder at me, halfway down the hall already.

"I'll see you in an hour." Johanna assured me with a smile, and her and Zoe head down the hall after Nita. I stood there for a moment longer just staring at the halls, taking everything in, much like last time. I pushed the door open slowly, not sure what I would find beyond it, but I'm pleased to see an empty room. I dropped my bag on the floor as I turned to look at the room - at least it didn't look the same. Of that I was relieved. I approached the window to look out on the yard, trying to catch a glimpse of something that might not have me thinking about her or Uriah or anything that happened here.

I pushed back the curtains and felt my stomach do it's last flip flop, that stupid, stupid statue. I ran for the bathroom and felt my stomach clench as my breakfast resurfaced. This stress and this guilt was getting to me. I wiped my mouth with the back of my hand, an unpleasant acidic taste burned my taste buds and lodged itself in my throat. I immediately made for my toothbrush before anything else. I brushed them three times and though there was now a thick pasty minty-ness to my breath, there was still a burning sensation at the back of my throat that I knew no amount of tooth brushing would get rid of.

I leaned on the sink now, my hands gripping the counter and I stared into the mirror. What was I doing? Was I even cut out for this job? I'm beginning to question my own stability, and I figure it'd be best if I go back out into the room and try to relax.

Relaxing is not in my nature, it's not something I do very often. Relaxing to me is going out for a run, but there isn't time just now, there never seems to be time anymore. As for my last couple weeks' escapades, I know that it's beginning to show. I can see my muscle softening, the scales betray me, every time I step on, my weight isn't changing but I know what it's made up of is. I feel determination in that thought now, I can't let myself go anymore. I don't know whether it's the thought or whether it's the circumstance and my brain trying to focus on something else, but I start then.

I begin with pushups, simple, arm burning, pushups. I focus on my breathing and counting and the muscle burn. I forget about everything and focus on bettering myself. I move to planks and crunches, old school workouts I thought, but effective. I can feel a small sweat beginning to break by the time I've gone through the rounds and I'm anxious to get out for a run later today. My body craving that exercise, that freedom.

There's a knock at my door. I approach it, looking through the peephole in the old door before opening it. I don't trust these people, even if their memories are wiped. Johanna. I open the door, and she gives me a look I'm not quite sure how to interpret. I stand aside and let her in. She's changed into new clothes I note, a suit more polished and professional than the original outfit she wore here. I look down at myself, the jeans and t-shirt I wear are basic and the shirt is showing signs of my workout.

"I hope you're changing." She says, looking over me. I let out a forced laugh.

"Yes, definitely." I respond.

"Well you better get a move on, we're supposed to be in the hall to meet Nita and Zoe in ten minutes." I look over to the clock that sits on the bedside table and sure enough it's ten to. I grab my bag and carry it to the bathroom. I move quickly, pulling my shirt off over my head and proceeding to rub deodorant on and spray myself down with cologne. I give my face a quick wash so I don't look all sweaty anymore and pull my dress shirt on, hastily buttoning it up. I change into the dark blue dress pants and toss my clothes into a pile in the corner.

I reemerge into the room shrugging my blazer on and fastening my pin to the lapel. "Acceptable?" I ask, holding my arms out so she can survey my hasty clothes change. She approaches and proceeds to straighten my tie and my pin ever so slightly, I would have thought no one would have noticed the difference, but then she smiles.

"_Now_ you're looking suitable." She shakes her head and I feel a small moment of accomplishment at my timed switch.

"So what is this meeting about again?" I ask her as we head for the door. Her look tells me everything, she knows about as much as I do and that makes me more nervous than she'll ever know. The Bureau is always into questionable things and our invitation here is surely not a good omen. We make our way down the hall in silence and I feel my stomach beginning to knot again as I take in the familiar halls. I just keep thinking about Christina's words of encouragement. Four. Four is the amount of fears I have. Four fears - heights, confined spaces, Marcus, and killing someone who's innocent. That's it.

I know that this scenario will not appear in my fearscape, because through the amount of times I've been scared or put into uncomfortable situations, it stays the same. This is a large disliking, not a fear. I make the assumption in my mind because I'm trying to make everything better, trying to make myself feel a little less confined in the throws of my greatest downfalls. It fails miserably as Nita comes into view. She smiles warmly, as if she has no idea what has happened here. I want to strangle her, shake the smile from her face and never see it again.

I fake a smile back to be polite, knowing that she has no idea, but she leads us to where I never wanted to be again. For a moment earlier, I had been convinced she had somehow figured it out, now I scolded myself for being so irrational. "Zoe's going to meet us there." She says matter of factly, wheeling her way down the hall. We wind down new halls, halls I had never seen before and that makes me wonder just how little I know about this giant place. I shiver at the thought of it. Zoe stands ahead of us, smiling widely as we appear around the corner.

There's an uncomfortable moment where she greets Johanna like they've been friends for years and turns to me and the look I give shoots her down immediately. She makes like it never happened and turns to the large heavy looking carved wooden door that stands in front of us and pushes it open. She holds it for us as Nita goes first, wheeling her way in and we follow against my better judgement and we walk into the large boardroom. Windows line the full far wall, making the room seem bright and cheery despite it's worn curtains and floors. I reserve myself to the far side of the table, not wanting to look out them for fear of seeing something else that will remind me of my macabre past here. Instead I find myself focusing on the grain of the table - how it moved and twisted through the large solid structure in front of me.

I hear a cough and I look up, startled by the sudden noise. The door is closed now and a man in a wheel chair sits in front of us, heading the table. David. I would recognise his face anywhere. I feel like I'm going to be sick again and I force myself to stay calm, trying to keep myself together long enough to get through this meeting and run.

I started out the meeting feeling sick, as I saw David and progressively I became more uncomfortable as I recognised the people around the table that joined us. There was nothing happy here, nothing, I decided. By the end of the meeting however, I had came to my senses and wanted to knock David backwards.

The meeting started with introductions, something which our last meeting in Chicago had failed to do, I assume because I was the only one who didn't really know everyone already. When it came time for me to introduce myself I responded with a simple and basic "Four." and I let them go on about their one through three jokes, their 'like the number?' comments and everything else they could think of and I didn't say a word. I just stared at David, and his lack of memory and I felt terrible. How could we have let them ALL be mind wiped? Some of them should have suffered through their wrongdoings. I wanted their insides to be eating away at them. I wanted them to feel disgusted with themselves, like I did. But I tried to focus as they commenced the meeting.

The meeting started out slow and boring, dragging on about the economy and the infrastructure. Mostly the city was self sufficient at this point. The food came from the now expanding Amity fields and their farms, with the influx we made adjustments, allotted more land to the Amity fields and farms for food. We brought a focus to emergency services, creating an actual governed police force and putting the Erudite labs to use in the medical field, we had people solely dedicated to rebuilding housing and an actual established government that wasn't nearly as biased as before.

We had sat for almost an hour in the room when a petite woman appeared, poking her head through the doors. She looked at David and he nodded, but neither of them said anything. I felt myself tense as drastic thoughts started going through my mind. What if this was a trick to get us here? Who was that girl? The door settled shut silently behind her as her head disappeared and I had the sudden urge to follow her, find out what she was up to.

David continued as if nothing had happened, addressing the group in what sounded like a final announcement. My nerves felt shot, I didn't think there was much more I could be feeling at this moment. I jumped when the doors burst open, and felt like I had had a heart attack when a parade of people in white jackets came in a sweeping, cheery line, dispersing around the room, laying plates out in front of everyone and large platters of food onto the table.

The woman from moments ago stood directing them all where to go and passing the trays and platters along, a smile on her face the whole time. I felt embarrassed that I had thought so wrong of these people, after all they didn't remember anything from before. They left the room just as they came, leaving the small girl with the fiery red hair behind. "Bon appetite!" she shouted and smiled, cheerfully, bowing before leaving the room.

We sat with a buffet of food in front of us, I could only compare it to seeing the Dauntless food before it was laid out on all the tables. But this was different, there were all kinds of different foods I had never seen, and there was so much of it. I didn't know where to start as the others at the table dug in cheerfully, filling their plates with the strange food. I looked to Johanna and she seemed to be as fully enveloped in their company as everyone else. I reached for the nearest recognisable food, not paying much attention to what it was and found myself munching on a piece of celery.

Johanna turned to address me, and found me biting into a celery stick pitifully. Her laugh rang out above the noise of the group and I felt my face getting hot. "I didn't peg you as the type that would reach for the vegetables." She stated, a look of amusement on her face as took another bite of some food I didn't recognise.

"Well, maybe you're wrong about me." I said, trying to salvage what little dignity I had from the situation left.

"Or maybe, you don't know what this food is." She responds, waving her fork in the general direction of the food on the table. I sit silently before letting my shoulders slump a little.

"I've never seen half of this in my life." I respond dryly, taking an exaggerated bite of the piece of celery and tearing it off as if it was the most delicious thing I had ever tasted. She laughed at that and pushed a dish towards me.

"Try this."

I look at the dish in front of me and it's somewhat recognisable. I mean, I can tell there's French fries in it, but I don't know what the heck is all over it.

"Gravy and Cheese." The man on my other side says around his mouthful of food. Brian, I seem to recall from the beginning of the meeting. I give them both wary looks and make a small pile of it on my plate.

"It's called Poutine." Johanna says, taking a bite of some herself. "It's from some other country a –"

"Canada." The man finishes, "For the most part they stayed out of the Purity War, once they realised what was going on they didn't want part in it. Don't blame them really, few of them decided to stay though, help out. A group of guys we were working closely with showed us this. You'll never think of French fries the same way again!" He's a very charismatic man, I can see why he's here. He's probably a communications liaison of some sort gets along with people well I imagine, his big smile and hearty laugh prod my theory along.

I stab my fork into the 'Poutine' and tentatively take a bite. Amazing. I quickly take another bite and hear both Johanna and Brian laugh. I glare at Johanna but it has the opposite affect that I had been hoping for. The pair of them are laughing so hard they're drawing attention so I return to my plate and continue to eat in silence, conscious of all the eyes looking in my general direction.

I try the different foods after having experienced the delicious Canada food they had called 'Poutine'. I can't believe no one in Dauntless had ever thought of that, the amount of times we had had all those things readily available to us and no one had even thought about mixing them. Not even Zeke, the guy who mixed everything together including his various trials with cookies in hot sauce.

There was a great deal of food there, some of it I liked, and some of it I wasn't so fond of. All and all though, I would definitely be bringing some of these ideas back home with me, Christina would think I was nuts when I told her about this later. I felt a pang as I thought of home, all my friends that were there, they made this experience easier last time, even Caleb. I would be happy for Caleb's presence in this moment, and that was something I never thought I would say.

As people slowed down, pushing their plates away from themselves, and the munching slowed to a crawl the woman popped her head in again and her white jacketed crew swept in and cleared it all away, leaving trays of cookies and cakes and an assortment of desserts behind them. I didn't touch the desserts, but I made a mental note to ask Amar to get me some Dauntless cake when I got back. Upon his return to the city, he declared that it was the thing he missed the most about Chicago and took it upon himself to find an unlimited resource of it. I needed his source.

Few people reached for the desserts, and David returned to the head of the table, and cleared his throat. The attention was directed away from the various conversations that were going on around the room and back to him. "We need to discuss one more thing this evening." He announced, looking around the table, as if he was talking to every single one of us individually. "It has been brought to our attention that there has been large growth in the city of Chicago. The city is becoming it's own, no longer a controlled environment monitored up close. This means that Chicago no longer constitutes as an experiment city. At this point, we need to consider making Chicago an official District of the United States of America." Some murmuring erupts around the table, obviously people are anxious to discuss their opinion on the matter.

"What's a district?" I ask Brian leaning in slightly as to interrupt as little as possible.

"Well as you know, the Country is divided into states. However, after the Purity War, most of the smaller towns and cities crumbled, they basically collapsed in on themselves, becoming ghost towns. The better of those areas are considered 'The Fringe', after the initial war people who were still opposed to our ideals took to those areas, but they aren't really considered anything, we don't send much out that way in regards to resources. As far as the government is concerned, they don't really exist." I nod in understanding, not realising that the conversation had stopped around the table.

"Districts are largely populated areas of a state that aren't considered an experiment and are sufficient enough to not need constant supervision from the Bureau. The more districts a state has, the more money they are allotted. However, when a certain number of districts is reached for each state, the money retracts with the belief that the state is in such a place that it can grow and repair itself with limited help from the government. So-"

"So, Districts are reviewed _very_ closely to be sure the decision isn't made in haste." David finishes and I jump, realising now that the room had been silent for most of Brian's explanation.

"Sorry." I respond quickly, all eyes at the table are on me. "I don't mean to interrupt." I add in explanation, feeling my face burn.

"No need to be sorry, this is all new to you." He replies abruptly and then moves on as if it never happened. I suddenly feel incredibly inexperienced for this job. I feel embarrassed and childish as I sit there like a scolded toddler.

"As Brian pointed out, this is a big decision, and we will need input from around the room. First, Chicago! Give us an update, what's happen in the last few months?" I freeze, do we want to be a District? Do we want to tell them about the attacks? Johanna speaks and I'm thankful that she does because I would have been a mess.

"Well, as you all know we've been progressing a lot. We're trying to move forward with all this new knowledge that you've given us. There have been a few little setbacks, nothing that can't be handled. There was a little tension at first, and to this day there are still some people who swear by the Faction system we used for years. Some people returned to their old homes, they stick to jobs typical of their factions, some people still refer to the parts of the city as the different faction areas…"

"As is to be expected. Anything else happening?" David cuts her off, unimpressed by her information.

"No, not really. There was a fire at the school, everyone got out ok and reconstruction is already underway. Nothing that has really affected the city as a whole, there have been cases made to reinstate the faction system, but nothing any kind of the population have backed. People seem to be happy with the new city." She finishes, smiling. I hope she's sold it to them, they all seem to think so, but something in David's face seems unconvinced that this is the case.

"A fire at the school?"

"Mhm, yes. Some of the older kids playing with matches in the bathroom." She responds without skipping a beat. There's silence for a moment and then his eyebrows raise and he relaxes.

"Well, what are you going to do? Kids are kids!" He shouts and then chuckles, and the rest of the table joins in. I sit there trying to decipher his every move and it's killing me. This man has had his memory wiped, he has no more recollection than these other people of what happened, but everything he's doing is screaming at me otherwise. If there was some way I could channel Tris right now I would, but I know she would be against him right away so I guess I wouldn't really need her explanation.

There is only minor discussion after that, with the promise to pick up the next day. As the meeting is let out I find myself bursting into the hall and gulping back air as if I didn't breathe for that whole two and a half hours. I loosen my tie and head off towards my room without a backwards glance and without looking for Johanna or Zoe and last of all Nita.

By the time I got to the end of the hallway I was jogging, heading for my room, trying to gain some head space, a place for my own thoughts to not be so overwhelmed by all of this. In a last minute decision I made a sharp right under the glowing 'EXIT' sign and threw open the metal door at the end, hitting the crash bar full force and falling out onto the tarmac that surrounded the Bureau of Genetic Welfare's massive building, airport, whatever they wanted to call it. I called it hell.

The cool air felt nice, but I wasn't done yet. I ran, picking up speed as I did so, not wanting to be stopped by anyone that might cross my path. I made my way past the airplanes, and towards the barbed wire fence that surrounded the area. It was further away than it looked I realised, as I finally reached it, jogging along the perimeter, dragging my fingers across it. I was looking for an escape.

Soon enough I found it - A hole in the fence. The wire had been bent back by someone, making it resemble the tops of the cans that the factionless had ate out of. I crouched down and stepped through it, catching my shoulder on it. I pulled and heard the tear of the fabric, and I feel my arm move free of the metal now and I step into the long grass that graces the other side of the fence. I shrugged my jacket off and looked at the big hole in the shoulder, torn right at the seam. I tossed it aside, along with my tie and took a look around.

I didn't know where to go from here, I hadn't thought there would actually be a hole in the fence. There appeared to be a foot worn path through the grass and I decided that was as good of a path to follow as any. I took off in a jog, not sure how far I would go, how far this trail went or where it would lead. I pondered the possible stories that led to the creation of this trail as I try to set a pace and get myself together.

I was alone with my thoughts now, the constant thump of my feet on the ground, the swishing of the grass as I ran through it and the buzzing and chirping of bugs I didn't see. I had forgot what it was like to run like this, run for the joy of running and not for my life. I scoffed at my own thoughts, but it was right, I didn't remember the last time I ran to just run, it always seemed to be for my life, or to save someone else's.

I took the time to think to myself. Was I really as inexperienced as I felt today? No. I decided. I'm not inexperienced, in fact, I'm sure I've experienced more than most of those people in that room today. I wasn't a child anymore, not with the decisions I had been faced with. Sure, I didn't know a thing about this world, I knew the basics. We were a city, in a state, in a country. There are many countries and they make up an entire world, there wasn't just a bit of land past the Amity fields, there was a whole world, bigger than I could ever imagine.

Was I wrong to not know what a District was? No. Districts weren't a part of any of the history texts I had read after returning to the city. I am not inexperienced. I just have different experiences. I have life experiences, fancy food and government hierarchies don't mean anything to me. At the end of the day I would survive and the others in that room would probably be dead. That wasn't something to be shameful of. I am strong. I am Four.


	6. Truths

**_A/N- This is a chapter that I feel like shows a little more the results of Nanowriomo... I'm really not sure about the ending of the chapter, it left me sitting and staring at the next blank page like 'where do I go and what do I do now?'. That being said, I would love your feedback on it! _**

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><p><em>Deliverance<em>

_Part One - Marked_

_Chapter 6 - Truths_

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><p>I had been on the verge of leaving. I wasn't going to turn back, I was going to keep running and running and running until I found somewhere or someone to start fresh with. Start a new life, with a new name and a new history. None of this would be my problem, I would be exactly who I was without the preconceived notions that people seemed to have of me.<p>

But I thought about my friends back home, I thought about my mother and I thought about Claire and I stopped. By the time I had got back it was dark. I grabbed my jacket from the ground along with my tie and made my way back into the building to my room.

When I closed the door to my room, I slumped against it, panting heavily, the walk through the halls was not enough to compensate for the long run I had done.

"Where the _hell_ have you been!" I jump at Johanna's voice and still panting, respond.

"What?" I try and process her words again, while catching my breath. "I uh, I went for a run. I needed to get out of here, just for a little while." I respond, resting my head back against the door.

"You've been gone for more than an hour!" She shouts. "You just took off without telling anyone where you were going while we're in the middle of being considered as a District. Do you even realise how close they're watching us now?" That comment makes me angry.

"No. But I'm sure you're going to tell me." I snap. "You have no clue, not a single clue what the hell happened here, not really. It's not as heroic and courageous as the stories you've heard. You have _no_ idea what that felt like back there!" I spit, and I know my words have cut deep, as the look on her face is nearly the same as the one I gave her the day I found Claire.

"Well then maybe you should _explain_ to me what happened in there." She responds, her jaw tight, and her scar making her look more ferocious than I had ever seen her.

"What happened? I was grossly unprepared for that." I respond.

"Oh come on Tobias, it wasn't that bad. You didn't know what the Districts were, that's nothing to be ashamed of, you didn't grow up in this world." She says motioning around her.

"I don't just mean that." I respond, "Though that was embarrassing enough to make me not want to return to the meeting tomorrow. He scolded me like a child, like I have no experiences. I've lived through experiences that would make his skin crawl and his hair curl." I stand now, tossing my jacket over the back of the chair in the corner. I make my way to the sink and fill a glass from the table with water I quickly drain down.

"What do you mean then?" She asks.

"I can't help it, and you won't understand." I start, giving her an even look. "What do you know about what happened here? About what we did?" I ask her calmly, my initial anger burnt off now.

"I know they were going to attack the city, clear the experiment and you stopped it. Tris died after going through the death serum, but not before managing to stop their attack. Uriah died during the attack as well, was taken out by an explosion." She informs me, like she's confident in her facts and I can't help but laugh a little.

"There was two attacks. The girl – Nita, she was heading the first one. She had teamed up and convinced some fringe leaders to join her, she convinced me to join her." I respond, picking at a thread at the bottom of my shirt. "She told us she was going to steal memory serum, she convinced all of us and then changed the plans. I was in part- responsible for the explosion that killed Uriah. She tried to steal Death Serum, to use against the Genetically Pure. I killed my own friend because of her convincing, I should have listened to Tris, she knew." I finish quietly, plucking the thread clean from the shirt with a sharp pull.

"Because we didn't know that's what she was trying to do, we got off, I was on parole, a rebel. Then the next plan was divulged. The turmoil in the city was becoming too much. They were going to distribute the memory serum into the city, and start the experiment fresh, it had lasted for so long compared to the other experiments they didn't want to dispose of it yet. But those were our families, our friends, our lives there and we couldn't let that happen, and allow ourselves to be excused. Another plan was made."

I look back up to Johanna, and I can see some surprise in her face as I let her in on the truth behind all of the rumours. We never bothered to correct them, none of us had the heart, they could believe what they wanted. Some of the stories that had been produced from the tidbits we had willingly given were outrageous, and now I felt somehow obligated to set it straight.

"Caleb was supposed to go into the Weapons Lab, through the Death Serum. Tris wouldn't let him. The rest of us had gone to the city to save our families. When we got back it had already been done. Tris made it through the Death Serum." Johanna looks very surprised now.

"That's not possible." She responds automatically. I shake my head.

"It is. She got through the Death Serum, and David was there. The coward had given himself an unknown antidote to get through it himself. We still don't know what he was actually doing there, we never will know. He shot Tris multiple times and _that_ is what killed her." I was going to stop there.

"That man out there - he _murdered_ Tris and he just gets to walk free, like nothing happened!" I say pointing in the direction of the hall, the general direction of the building, anywhere that would emphasise just how much I didn't like him. Johanna sits motionless now, and I fall silent, letting her soak it all in. "You asked me what's wrong? I'm here and I'm with these people _pretending _that nothing that happened here ever did."

"Tobias, I didn't know." She's apologetic, and I know she means it, but I can't help but still feel angry, unsettled, and just not comfortable.

"If you don't mind I'm going to have a shower now, so unless you came here for another reason..." I trail off. She shuts her mouth and looks at me for a moment, and I can see her considering her words for a moment.

"No. That's all." She says quietly and I turn, heading for the shower without another thought, my reverie broken and the good feeling I had managed to scrape up while I was out on my run is gone as I step into the hot water hearing the door click shut behind me.

* * *

><p>I find myself wandering the halls, heading towards the place I used to go to feel better - the surveillance cameras. As I approach the room, I notice that my city no longer graces the screens, but another, I don't recognise, full of people I don't know. Sitting behind the computers is a girl I recognised vaguely from the time I was here before. Her bright pink lips look ridiculous against her pale skin and dark hair, out of place but I don't say anything about it, just glad she isn't someone that was instrumental in anything.<p>

"Hello Four." She says, and the fact she knows my name throws me off a little, but I shouldn't be surprised, she mans the cameras, I was probably one of her little TV characters, a nobody until I arrived here. "Back again, huh?" She asks, motioning for me to pull up the seat beside her. I comply and sink into the swivel chair next to her and watch the screens."Milwaukee." She states, as if reading my mind.

"What's it like there?" I ask, she shrugs.

"What do you mean?"

"Do they have factions? Are they just living in a city? How do they work?"

"They're running on more of a monarchy styled system." I raise my eyebrow, the words mean nothing to me. "They have a King and Queen, and royal lineage and the whole deal."

"Like a... fairy tale." I respond lamely. She laughs but nods.

"They don't exactly look at it that way I'm sure, but yeah I guess. It's not quite that extreme though, no castles or moats... or dragons." We sit and watch the screens for a while, she tells me who the people are and what their back stories are. After a while, I begin to understand why they would gather and watch us, it was fascinating, so different than what we were used to that I couldn't help but get a little caught up in it.

There are a couple funny moments, but for the most part nothing happens, not like when I was here last time. "Well," She says after an hour. "My shift's up, you can keep watching if you want, nothing exciting since Chicago though, a few brawls here or there, but nothing substantial." She stands and gives me an expectant look.

"Oh! I'll just leave then." I say, getting up. She bites her lip and looks at the screens again.

"You know, you _could_ stay. Just don't tell anyone I let you. You can figure out the system right? You've worked this sort of stuff before didn't you?" I nod, and she smiles and tosses me a key. "Cool, just uh, lock up when you leave, ok? And slip that under door 313 on your way back." I smile back at her and she stands there for another moment and then turns and leaves.

I sink into the chair in front of the screens and begin scrolling through the cameras. There's more cameras labelled with city names I don't recognise. All the ones labelled 'Chicago' are blank, empty black squares on the screen. I had secretly hoped I would be able to catch a glimpse of home from here, something to remind me of what I had to go back to. But there was nothing so I contented myself with scrolling the screens, looking for names that sounded interesting.

A couple had caught my attention, by the looks of it one experiment was an exact replica of Chicago, factions, symbols, names the whole bit, but they looked like they were in the early stages some of the people even looked dazed still. That made me feel terrible, we had saved our own city, but how many others were left to endure the Bureau's questionable tactics? I moved past as I watched a crew of Dauntless initiates training in a building I didn't recognise, with people I didn't know. Their form was weak, I noted, and figured ours probably wasn't much better in the first couple generations but it was odd seeing this replica city.

I continued to scroll through them, looking at the names and hardly glancing at the city locations. '_Labs_' I click on it, and see just what the name said, a view of two labs divided by glass. I lean forward as if being any closer to the screen will somehow let me read the papers that sit next to a man testing the contents of various vials. Obviously it won't and soon enough I begin to get bored with that screen and move to the next. Another lab, that's empty I flick to the next and the screen shows a hallway. My shoulders slump, hoping to have stumbled upon something mildly interesting by now, but there's nothing and most of the screens are empty, their occupants sleeping.

I log out of the system and grab the key I had since set on the desk and I stood, flicking the lights off and locking the door behind me as I left.

* * *

><p>I sat at the boardroom table with a now empty coffee mug in front of me, staring in at the ring that lined the bottom of the cup. I sighed heavily as the group droned on.<p>

"I'm sorry, are we boring you?" David asked. I had gone into this meeting with a fresh attitude, a stronger resolve than I had had yesterday. I knew what to expect this time, and after going for a run out on the trail earlier this morning, my mind was clearer than ever. I had had the time I needed to re-organise my thoughts, time to consider the face I needed to be when I entered this room today. Four. Not 'Four' but Four. I needed to be the Four that got the labels I had, tough, strong, 'unapproachable', I needed to be Dauntless. So when David asked, I responded quickly.

"I think you're missing the point." I said, his eyebrows raised and most of the group followed suit.

"Boy, this is the first District this state will have. We _need_ to know that it is strong."

"What you _need_ to know is what state it _will_ be in. You know we're still fragile, but you know that we're growing. Nothing we can say is going to convince you to make us a District. You're looking for a non-existent situation where there is no risk, now ask yourselves, is that rational?" I looked from David now to the group that sat around the table. Some of them at least looked convinced.

"Go on." He said, his lips tight.

"So we need to look at _why_."

"We can't make an investment into something and lose it in a year or two. You've crumbled into chaos before and that ended in how many wars?" A woman at the other end of the table asked - Michelle I remember. I turned and looked at the woman, giving her the look I gave my Dauntless initiates.

"So protect it. You're right, you can't make an investment and leave it hanging open. So make an investment and protect it. Take the steps now, to save them later."

"And how do you propose that?" Brian asks, I smile a little and gesture to the table.

"I'd be willing to make my vote a yes, if I can be sure of who's living in the city. I don't trust those fringe lingerers." A man named Carlos says.

"Yeah, if I knew they had some way to protect themselves I'd be more confident in the decision." Another man said, looking around the table. I sit down now, the interesting conversation starting and I lean back comfortably, knowing we may be out of the clear as far as these attacks go, we may still have some time to get things sorted out.

I look across the table to Johanna and see her smiling at me and shaking her head. I can't help but laugh a little, like she's thinking about my frazzeled state yesterday night and I know she's thinking 'I told you so'. I feel like maybe this visit was a good thing, like I was able to conquer some demons and move on, face these problems head on and stop feeling sorry for myself. This was a new life, one where I didn't reach for a weapon, one where I didn't work for a faction of violent adrenaline junkies. For the first time in the last two and a half years I felt ok, like _really_ ok, not like I was just plugging on working my way to oblivion.

* * *

><p>I could feel my muscles burning as I pull myself up to the bar again, letting out a burst of air and sucking in another as I let myself drop, my sneakers hitting linoleum with a resounding 'smack!' into the empty room. I couldn't remember the last time I had been to the gym, but I knew it had been too long, the reps too difficult and the sets pushed me harder than they would have before.<p>

I grab another drink of water as I head for the weights.

"Hey!" I spin, startled by the voice in the room that had been empty for the whole time, minus the ten minutes the man was in here sweeping the floor by the entrance. I see Christina, a water bottle in her hand and a towel slung over her shoulder. "Since when do you workout here?" She asks, sauntering over, a smirk on her face as she nears.

"It's been a while." I admit, she raises her eyebrows, calling my bluff. "A long while." I correct, grabbing the weight off the rack and carrying them over to the bar, Christina following in my every footstep.

"So what's made you change your mind? I was pretty sure you had stopped working out, you know once you became all… peaceful." She said, shaking her head at the last word.

"I did." I respond, motioning for her to hold the other end of the bar whilst I loaded the weights on. "But then there was that meeting at the Bureau, and I just started then, I felt like I needed to." She makes a sound between a scoff and a laugh as she moves, letting me slide the weights on the other end. I fasten the clamps on and take a seat at the end of the bench. She gives me a weird look but doesn't question my weak rationale.

"How did that go, by the way?" She asks, leaning against the rack.

"It was… interesting." I respond, and I frown a bit as I think about it. "I don't know, it was weird. They were all there, and they were all smiling and happy, like nothing had happened. But they knew who I was and they knew that there were cities that were experiments. They still have those stupid cameras in some of the cities, nothing really interesting happening now that they're supposed to be keeping their hands out of things and just observing." She nods and I continue. "But I couldn't help shake the feeling that Nita and David knew, like they were remembering some how. It was like sometimes they did and I could see it and then it was gone, quick as a flash." She makes a face of disgust and shakes her whole body.

"Ugh! David, the guy's a creep." She exclaims, "I wish he was rotting away somewhere." She says, no sign of remorse on her face.

"I agree."

"Hey, so a group of us are going to The Pit tonight, you want to come? Or are you back to working out but still kind of anti-social?" She asks, the intent of the comment, I knew was to make a jab at me.

"The pit? Isn't it abandoned?" I respond, a frown on my face. She laughs, and it echoes off the walls like a bell.

"Not that pit! Come on, you seriously haven't heard of The Pit?" She looks at me in disbelief, a smile plastered across her face. I shake my head.

"I guess not?" I say like it's a question rather than an answer.

"So basically, some Dauntless guy moved into the downtown area and well, the story is that he missed the noise and the group and so he brought it to downtown. Made a bar, it's called The Pit. Lots of Dauntless hangout there, it does remind you a lot of the actual place in it's own weird way." I shrug.

"Alright, what time?" The answer seems to surprise her a little, I had taken to not going out much, I had become a house dweller, I'd go to someone else's house, I'd stay at my house, but I didn't want to interact with the whispering people all the time. But this was Dauntless and it was time I got that back so I agreed even though the idea didn't really appeal to me as it might have at one time.

"Really? Alright, We're headed down around ten, I'll come to your place and get you." She stands now, free of the rack and heads off to do her own workout.

I finish my last set and stretch it out, the simultaneous pull and burn feeling good. I know I'll really hurt tomorrow, more than I would doing my basic workout I had been left with at the Bureau. I grabbed my water bottle and headed for the door, waving to Christina on my way out, wondering what the night was going to bring.

I entered the change room and grabbed my bag, headed for the shower and I moved quick, eager to get home and eat, my appetite gnawing at my stomach like a dog at a bone. The hot water felt good on my muscles and made my shoulders relax. I stood there for a minute, just standing and letting the sweat wash away before I grabbed my soap and lathered up quick and got out.

It was nice getting back into my normal clothes, my jeans and my t-shirt, no dress clothes, no gym clothes, but my real clothes. I felt renewed, maybe this was what I needed all along.

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><p>There was a knock on my door, and I got up from the couch to answer it, Evelyn frown, looking up from yet another book and watched as I answered. I threw it open and found Christina standing there, dressed in black head to toe like a true Duantless, her hands shoved into the pockets of a leather jacket. She smiled widely as she answered the door and I stood back to let her pass.<p>

"Alright, you ready?" She asks, stepping through and surveying the room, acknowledging Evelyn with a nod. Evelyn eyes her suspiciously and I give her a sharp look which makes her return to her book. I grab my own leather jacket from the hook beside the door and shrug it on, then bending to shove my boots on and lace them up.

We head out the door and I give my mother another look, but she doesn't seem interested and continues to read without acknowledging my departure. I look at Christina and she shrugs, and I agree with her, not sure what to make of my mother at times still and I close the door.

The night is cool, I notice as we passed through the front doors and into the fresh air. Winter is coming, the air is crisp now and the days were warm still, soon enough though, I thought, it would be winter. Christina and I fall instep and I find her presence welcoming as we make our way towards the bright lights that make up the downtown area. She bumps into me and I laugh at her. "Walk much?" I tease as she quickly corrects herself, moving an extra step away to compensate for the jostling.

" ." She says sarcasm dripping from her fake laugh like syrup. We're silent again for a moment and then she speaks again. "It's nice to see you out and… you know, in your own normal clothes." I laugh a little at her comment because I feel the same, still a little unsure of what to expect, but the same. She points out the direction as we approach the next corner and I follow her lead, heading left onto a crumbling side road. "Shortcut." She declares, watching her feet now as we step over the cracks and small potholes.

It was a shortcut, a very _very_ short cut I notice, as it's only a moment later she's pulling open the door under the blue glowing letters 'The Pit'. There isn't any light leaking out of the place and it's quite quiet I notice, the sidewalk is nearly black. Christina opens the door and a warm glow and loud noise pours out onto the street, a combination of voices, music and laughter – the air dense with the smell of hamburgers and wings and a plethora of foods that make even my full stomach feel hungry.

She's been here a lot of times, I note as she knows exactly where to look as we step inside. It's busy and nearly everyone in the place is in black, tattoos peaking out around their clothes and their piercings glittering under the dangling overhead lights. Just like in the pit, I feel a small smile pulling at my lips and I feel at home, looking around, seeing faces I recognize, and some I didn't. I feel at home, and there isn't a single bad memory attached to it. Three of the four walls are dark stonework, and the third, I'm impressed as I look at full floor to ceiling glass and the waterfront beyond it. The Bureau had kept to their goal of trying to re-establish the lake after all of these years well, the view was impressive.

I smiled as I realised where Christina was headed, seeing the group lounging together at a set of tables they had clearly shoved together, and chairs they had collected from the surrounding tables. Their familiar smiling faces made me feel like even though I maybe hadn't been the best friend in the last little while, maybe they were still willing to accept me back into the group. Amar clapped me on the back as I got to the table.

"Good to see you Four!" I smiled back, his excitement contagious as Christina and I took our seats- the last two at the table. The others already had pints in front of them but it wasn't long before the woman came to our table, seeking our orders.

"We would have ordered for you, but it occurred to me, that we had no idea what you would want to drink." George said matter of factly, then lifting his own beer to his lips and taking a sip. I laughed and picked at the paper coaster and read the advertisement on it. It was for the bar we were sitting in.

"Cool place huh?" Christina said, taking it in again herself. "Check it out. Over there, on Fridays they have a knife throwing contest, the night's winner gets free drinks for the night."

"Dangerous as hell though, some of these drunk bastards couldn't hit the barn side of a broad if they tried." Zeke added, watching as some guy on the other side of the room stumbled and fell trying to get onto his chair. Shauna drove her elbow into his side and he held it in mock pain before laughing again.

Amar shook his head in dismay. "What we really needed all this time, was a guy to throw knives with the accuracy of a machine. So you're going to consider it for the greater good of the group, right? We need free drinks." I gave him a look and the woman came and dropped off a beer in front of me. I took a sip of it before answering. The first sip was always the grossest one, the strange taste hitting my taste buds for the first time in a long time.

"I suppose I'll have to show you how it's done… again." I responded, smirking at him as he shakes his head in disbelief.

"Still a cocky little bugger aren't you?" I laugh and I take another swig of my beer. Christina has some fruity looking drink in front of her, if I hadn't known any better I would have thought it was a children's slushy.

As the night goes on, I can feel the buzz setting into my muscles, relaxing them more and more. We're laughing, the loud and boisterous ones now as the guys are shouting at girls across the bar. "Ok, ok watch." Amar says to two girls, his hand out in front of him as if it will stabilise him as he stands up. "My man Four here is the best knife thrower you'll ever see! And guess what ladies, he's _single_." I shake my head immediately, I know where this is going.

"No!" I shout at him.

"Yes man, yes. Go!" He grabs the back of my shirt and pushes me out of the seat and onto my feet, steering me towards the targets at the far end of the room. A couple of guys are already there, tossing terrible throws, hitting the target with luck alone, but most of their throws are clattering to the ground. "Hey, _hey_!" Amar shouts at the guy who's watching security over the drunk people throwing knives. "My buddy wants to throw!" He shouts. The man eyes Amar and then me as I shake my head and he passes me a cloth pouch, tied up with the knives in it. Amar is shouting again and I'm not even listening to him, he's brought the girls over he had been shouting at.

Christina joins my side, not nearly as drunk as Amar and willing to hold my beer as I unwrap the knives, setting them down on the hightop table in front of me. I pick one up, sliding it out of the fabric, and I bounce it in my hand a bit, getting a feel for the weight of it. They're similar to the ones we used in training, I noted, touching the blade, it was kept sharp too, I was a little surprised by that but I rolled it over in my hand once more and assessed the target. The silhouette of a person, a bullseye in it's head and a bullseye in it's torso, simple enough.

I hold the knife now in my fingers and I try to clear the buzz from my head, focusing hard on the target. I throw, letting the knife release from my fingers. I hit the outer ring of the torso and I'm displeased but I pick up the next one and try to correct what I did last time. I release the next one, harder than the last and it hits the centre ring of the torso. I smile, that's more like it. I can hear Amar shouting but I'm not paying any attention to what he's saying.

There's four more knives and I pick up the next one, and release it, hitting right next to the knife already embedded in the centre ring. I take my drink from Christina's hand and gulp more down, looking to Amar who's clearly enjoying the attention he's gaining. I shake my head and turn around, sliding the next knife out of the pouch, Christina takes my drink again as I square myself with the target. I let it loose, feeling the handle slide out from between my fingers and it sails towards the target, hitting just outside the centre ring I have two left and I intend to make them head shots.

I take deep breath, this target is a lot smaller and I know in the past I would have hit it, and I seem to be doing ok with the larger target, but there isn't much room left in the centre for another two knives. I take aim and I hear Christina beside me shouting furiously at Amar and Zeke, trying to get them to shut up. I pull back and let the blade loose, throwing it hard enough that the sound of it sticking is a loud bang that causes the people around the bar to look. It has hit the line, half of the blade in the third ring and the other half in the second ring from the centre.

I have one left and I slide it out, unaware that people are still watching until it's released from my fingers and slamming into the centre, another loud bang echoing through the room. It's a lot quieter than before as I take my drink from Christina and turn back to Amar, Zeke, and George and the crowd that had gathered around them. "Hey, it's Four!" Someone shouts and the murmuring begins. It had been avoided earlier, people too preoccupied with their drinks and their own loud conversations to look and gossip.

"Jesus man, could you have thrown them any harder?" George asks, taking a look over his shoulder at the target. I feel a tap on my shoulder and I spin, the guy handing out knives is standing there.

"High score." He says, nodding towards a lit up board I hadn't noticed earlier. A line is blinking on the top slot, waiting for a name to be put in. He hands me a glass screen I recognise as the same device that Tris had had her mother's journals on. It glows 'HIGH SCORE, enter name:' I enter it quickly, and pass it back, the board now reading 'FOUR' instead of a blinking line next to a score. He hands me a round object in return, and I roll it over in my hand, and then look at him confused by what the neon blue object does. "Free drinks for a month, high score perk. Just use it whenever you go to pay the waitress will scan it and you'll be good to go." I roll the object over again and feel the leather strap that is attached to it.

Amar cheers as we head back to the table and I order another drink as I take the last swig of mine, ordering the rest of the group a round as well. "See? I told you we needed him to come out!" Zeke shouts over the loud music and I laugh, the buzz setting in with every beer I have.

Soon enough it's one in the morning and the baskets of food we had ordered sit in front of us empty amongst half full glasses. Amar is past drunk, laughing at everything and stumbling. Shauna has resorted to leaning her weight against Zeke, looking drunk and tired. "Alright," I announce, "I need to head home, I have to get up in six hours." Christina nods in agreement, sloshing the last bit of her latest drink down her throat and slowly standing.

The waitress approaches with the bills as she starts noticing us beginning to get our jackets on. I hand her the round pendant and she scans it and leaves, crumpling the bills in her hands as she goes. George looks at her, his mouth open slightly and looks back to us. "What? Was that just all free?" The waitress is back with a new bill.

"Not a chance." She says, laughing at the look on his face. Amar grabs it from his hands and produces his wallet.

"I got the food guys." He says, his words beginning to slur a little. The rest of us stand, jackets on and prepare to part ways.

"Thanks for the drinks Four!" Amar shouts loudly, grabbing me in a hug which I don't return much to the group's amusement. "No excuses for next time, you're coming out again!" I just smile and say goodbye to the rest of them.

Christina and I head for the door, stepping out into the cool, black night. The air feels good against my hot skin and I take in a deep breath as we head back towards the way we came. We start the walk silent and burst out laughing as we keep bumping into each other, the alcohol more apparent in our systems than it was ten minutes ago. "Where are we going?" I ask her, recognising the streets we had taken directly from my house to the bar.

"To your place, then I'm going to go home and crash." She declares drunkenly.

"No, no, no! There's no way I'm letting you walk home like this, your house. Go." I demand, and she shakes her head but moves down another side road, away from my apartment and towards her own. The walk to her house is longer than it is to mine and I'm feeling _very_ drunk by the time we're even getting close to there. I curse Amar silently, as I picture the constant stream of alcohol he kept ordering the group and I stumble, tripping in a pot hole I didn't see and Christina laughs loudly, the sound echoing off of the buildings that line the street.

I wasn't laughing though, as I make out the silhouette of two people running towards a building I recognise faintly in the light as the Library of Government Records. I grab Christina's arm and pull her into the shadows and motion for her to be quiet. She responds with a loud and dramatic "Shhhhh!", and continues to giggle. I tighten my grip on her arm and her smile fades into a grimace. I nod towards the building and she searches the dark until one of them moves and she turns back to me, a look of surprise on her face. I release her arm and we creep along the street, keeping to the shadows to get a closer look. We're not there very long before two more people join them and they all take off running. I break out of my crouched stance and run into the street, trying to catch a better look of them.

I don't make out much, the only thing that I could is white armbands, practically glowing in the dark against their dark clothing. I look at the building and I see that black mark marring the side of the building, as I approach it, I can see the poor lighting reflecting in it. The paint is still wet, I think and my drunken brain doesn't process it until my nose begins to feel burnt. Smoke. I run to the front of the building and go headfirst up the stairs, and throw my shoulder into the heavy door. It doesn't give, buy I feel like my shoulder is going to be bruised.

On the second go the door cracks and I stumble forward, nearly loosing my footing as I burst through into a dark room. I can hear the fire crackling and I look for a fire extinguisher or a sink, something that I can use to put a fire out. I see the red canister strapped to the wall behind the door and I yank it free, Christina is yelling outside, and I can hear her making her way up the concrete stairs behind me. I plunge forward, trying to follow the smell of smoke. I yell back over my shoulder at her. "Stay there!" Naturally, as I thought she would, she refuses.

"Not in a million years Four!" I keep moving forward and eventually can see a flickering glow from the other end of the room. I race towards it and find what I was hoping I wouldn't. Bookshelves on fire. The paper was going up in flames like there was no tomorrow. I held the extinguisher out in front of me and let it loose, the white powder spraying everywhere. I can see Christina stumble down the aisle over and she clutches the shelf for support. I'm not paying close attention to her as I continue to try and spray things down, trying desperately to beat the fire to the paper, but it's a fairly even battle, as the smell of bonfire engulfs us.

I can hear Christina coughing, and I can see now that she's found a bucket somewhere. The carpet in front of us is beginning to catch, adding a chemical element to the smoke. The fire on my side is nearly out, but the crackling and glowing continues. I turn to Christina's side now and she's got another bucket, but she's stumbling too much and I watch as she nearly falls over, letting another bucket go. I watch her horrified as I see her step into the flames licking up the carpet beside her. It catches and she screams.

I drop the extinguisher and tackle her to the ground, rolling us over and over, until her screams stop. I push myself up with my arms and look down at her. "Are you ok?" I demand and she nods furiously, but I don't dwell on it because I can feel the heat on my back. I grab her pail of water, what remains of it and I slosh it over the rest of the fire, taking out most of it. I toss it aside and grab the nearly empty extinguisher and spray the last two shots at the small bit that remains, effectively plunging us into darkness.

I feel like the world is spinning and I lean against the shelf on the other side, coughing from the smoke and my head spinning from the alcohol and I puke. I move back towards Christina and she's doing the same thing, standing up slowly, wiping her mouth on the back of her sleeve. I grab her shoulder and spin her around and I wrap my arms around her, pulling her into me.

"Thanks."She mumbles and I look down at her now, pulling her out from my body and I bend to look her in the eyes.

"Are you ok?" I ask, concerned. She nods but limps as she steps away, using the shelf for a completely different reason now. And I follow her, grabbing her up to her surprise and carrying her outside to the concrete steps. We sit and listen to the approaching sirens. I laugh at her now as I can see her in the light, soot covering her face. She elbows me and I laugh harder, but my laugh is gone as her next move takes me by surprise - her hands are grabbing the front of my jacket and her smokey lips are pressed down on mine.

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><p><em><strong>AN- I don't normally put notes at the end, but with this ending I felt the need to tell you that this will not be turning into a full on Tristina (is that what people are calling it?) fic. Please R&R! Flames welcome!**_


	7. Red Suitcase

_**A/N- Three days left to finish NaNoWriMo and yes, I have a few chapters to post. I needed a break from typing new story and decided to go back and do a quick edit so I could post. ALSO I just noticed that the website stripped the page breaks I had throughout the previous chapters so if anyone starts seeing chapters that are already posted are being updated it's just me putting the page breaks back in! As usual I would love to hear what you think about this chapter, and even if you have thoughts about what's going to happen, it might help me finalize the second half of the story! Please R&R!**_

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><p><em>Deliverance<em>

_Part One - Marked_

_Chapter Seven - Red Suitcase_

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><p>December came in a flurry of snow and bitter cold. It had been a few months but the meetings at the Bureau were in constant swing, our presence being requested at least once a month. The snow made no difference, we'd climb into the Jeep and be gripping the seats with white knuckles as the tires slid around beneath us. That night four months ago was eventful enough to leave me sitting at my kitchen table the next week trying to keep myself cemented in place. I did not want to experience that lack of control all over again.<p>

Eventually my friends won out, probably something to do with the fact that they all showed up at my door at quarter to ten and all but dragged me out the door. And so we had fallen into a new routine, every other Friday we found ourselves all crouched over the two tables pushed together at the back of The Pit, beers in hand and moving on with life. I would never tell them, but secretly I was glad to be able to get out and have something to do with my time.

My relationship with Christina was complicated, I didn't see her for a whole two weeks after the fire. When the emergency crews had arrived she had all but ran away, and when she finally started talking to me again she pretended like nothing happened. I had been shocked to say the least when it happened, and spent that whole day trying to figure out how I actually felt about it. There were so many things I needed to consider there that when it happened I couldn't help but feel relieved. Now I found comfort in that response, chalking it all up to alcohol and adrenaline.

The visits to the Bureau hadn't got much easier, I spent most of my time there suspicious of Nita and David and the other parts running on that footpath or watching camera feeds. Today was a small exception to the rules, we had gone to a short meeting and a trip to the Fringe had been announced. Not everyone had been to the Fringe, Johanna included, it had caused quite a stir but David insisted that we see what kind of people we were letting in to our city.

I volunteered to stay behind, having already seen the fringe and the people that were in it. I had seen the way they lived and I had seen their feelings towards us. That was enough to keep me from wanting to revisit, that and the memories of Nita and that whole fiasco that followed. I don't think the Fringe dwellers believed the memories of the Bureau had been wiped, either that or they really didn't care. I was finding myself leaning more towards their thoughts with every visit to this nasty place. Some little thing someone did would send my mind reeling and I'd find myself sitting and trying to convince myself otherwise.

Johanna had followed me out of the boardroom, interrogating me on the Fringe. "What is it like? I need to know what to expect. I know some of those leaders, but you see how they look in their suits – out of place." She finishes, looking to me for confirmation.

I nod and start fielding her questions. "It's like the factionless." I say, trying to figure out how else to describe it. "It's like a community of violent, lawless, factionless." She looks terrified.

"Like how violent?"

"It's every man for themselves." I shrug "I suppose it's a whole lot of don't cross the wrong people. Something like I imagine my mother would have brought around, had things gone her way."

Johanna is silenced by that statement and I know she's trying really hard to picture it, and I'm pretty sure she's beginning to understand just why I had floated the idea of immigration policies.

I had started to get to know these people now, all of the politicians and counsel people. Which meant I was actually included in the debates and conversations now rather than having to interrupt. So as Johanna and I made our way down the hall, these people waved as they passed, smiled and shouted "We'll see you this afternoon!" The world was finally starting to feel a little less cold, despite what the weather outside was saying.

Johanna and I parted ways as we got further down the hall. I headed for my room to get bundled up, it was winter but there was still running that needed to be done, and it was a lot less irritating when everyone you passed didn't turn to stare at you as you dashed through the halls. I had taken to packing clothes that were appropriate for running now and didn't leave me with my feet sore and blistering.

No one knew where I went, they always questioned me, but I didn't dare tell in case someone would seal up the hole in the fence and I'd become a prisoner once again. Today was different though, different in every way, with the extra time, I planned to follow the trail further than I had before. I had a picture in my head, of a person trying desperately to get away from here, to a secret place that was happy and better than this, and I pictured myself following them as they escaped to freedom. Today I was set on finding out where that place was.

I tied my shoelaces and pulled my grey hoodie on over my long sleeved shirt. I stepped out into the hall quietly and scanned the area, checking to see if anyone was watching and I headed for the exit. As I pushed the door open, I was greeted by a biting cold, just as I had expected, and I took off at a jog right away, trying to keep myself warm.

I looked over my shoulder as I approached the fence, making sure no one was watching out here. I crouched and pulled myself through quickly and without a look back. I took off down the now familiar trail, stomped down by my own previous steps and possibly, it appeared, someone else's. I felt the weight of responsibility lift from my shoulders as I ran and soon it became almost relaxing.

The snow was cold and bit at my ankles for the first few steps, but it wasn't long until they were mostly numb and running became comfortable again. My shoes slowly became soaked through, and I kept concentrating on my steps and my breaths, how the cold air hurt to suck in. I slowed as I made my way to the end of where I had ran to, and stared at the footsteps that extended past my own. I plunged on though, picturing someone peeking over their shoulder, making sure they weren't being followed. I couldn't help but do the same as I picked up my pace again and made my way into the snow.

My legs burned now from the added weight of the snow with every step I was taking. I was just about to turn back when I broke through the tree line. I stopped dead, taking in the makeshift tents and the crumbled buildings - I was in the fringe.

I could smell the bonfires before I saw them, people huddled around them, in some cases, I noted, the people were brave enough to light them inside their tents, seemingly unafraid of the fact that it might go up in flames and then they would have nowhere. With what I had seen of the Fringe, it would only be a matter of time then until they were dead, with or without the tent anyways.

No one had seemed to take a second thought about someone emerging from the tree line, I couldn't imagine somewhere being so used to people coming and going that no one batted an eye. I pulled my hood up, shielding my aching ears from the chill and walked into the community of tents, taking a look around at the people. I remember my abnegation days, and watching the grey clothed strangers taking food to the factionless and I feel a pang in my chest, wishing I could be the abnegation stranger for these people.

I wandered around the tents and the fires, taking in all the colourful tents and their tennants. I made my way towards and empty fire and squatted down beside it, letting the flames warm my body. I hadn't realized until now that my body was shivering, freezing from the snow. My wet pant legs stuck to my calves and as I moved my toes, I could feel water sloshing up between them. I situated myself, shuffling over a bit to be able to see the entrance into the trees and waited. The trail seemed fairly used, someone had to eventually emerge from it, and I wanted to know who. Who was brave enough to be travelling between the Fringe and the Bureau?

I watched as a group of children ran by, playing in the snow, throwing it around with shrieks and laughs just like the Dauntless children did. This all seemed out of place to me, I had never imagined children being a part of this lifestyle, never. Seeing them running around now, just like they would at home seemed wrong. They weren't dressed like they would have been at home, most of them wearing sneakers instead of boots, and a few even wearing only a sweater and their mitts. They would be soaked for the next day or so, like my own shoes.

I felt sorry for them, and yet at the same time, I knew there were cities everywhere, communities like Chicago that would be willing to take them in, give them a solid roof over their heads. They chose this, they were here for a reason, their ideals led them to lead this life. Despite all that, when a scruffy looking man with a long beard joined the fireside and shoved a metal can into the flames with a stick, I couldn't help but feel I should be helping. I realized now the similarities between our factionless and these 'fringe dwellers'.

The sun was beginning to sink in the sky when I finally decided it was time to get up and start heading back. If I didn't go now, I would run out of light, and I don't know if I would be able to see to even attempt to make my way back. I would be stuck in the Fringe. That thought sent shivers down my spine, remembering the fights that were breaking loose the last time I was in the Fringe, when Nita had been so convincing. I didn't want to be thrown into any situations like that and especially not out here in the middle of nowhere with a bunch of people I don't know.

I stood and stretched, shaking my legs out, the muscles stiff and sore from sitting down too soon after running. The man that had joined my fireside didn't move when I got up, he just reached his stick into the fire and began pulling the metal can towards himself. He peaked inside of it when he got it near the edge and carefully shoved it back in. I began to move towards the trees, the cold now seeming doubly so as the warmth left my skin, the man never looked back.

I stopped and pretended to join another fire as a figure emerged from the trail then, a woman. I didn't recognize her, with her black hair braided down her back and her features pointy as if the bones were about to protrude from her skin. Definitely not from the Bureau. Which meant that whoever this lady was, she was travelling to the Bureau for something. She hoisted a backpack up a little higher and tightened her grip on it, looking around to see if anyone had seen her. I focused my attention down towards the fire and she moved on.

When I looked up again, she was gone, headed off in a direction I hadn't explored. I moved past people silently, not saying a word, and trying to keep sights on the woman from the trees. She wasn't too hard to follow, or she shouldn't be, for sneaking around she chose a terrible colour to wear out into the white surroundings. Her bright red jacket made her stick out like a sore thumb. But by the time I rounded the corner after her, she was gone.

I felt foolish, how can one lose someone who's wearing the brightest colour in the whole village? I spun around slowly, looking for her and snapped my head around when I heard a voice. "Ya lookin' for som'ne boy?" A rough looking lady stood, warming her hands over a large fire blazing in a barrel outside of what I assumed was her tent. Her face was scared and her hair was wild, frizzy and streaked with grey like a witch from some fairy tale I couldn't remember. I took a step closer, moving out of the middle of the street, not wanting to yell it across the village.

"Yeah, the woman in the red jacket." I respond. There's silence as she eyes me carefully, as if she's trying to decide whether or not I'm good enough to be privy to that information. She must have decided that I wasn't bad news as she steps out from behind the barrel and shuffles into the street, a very prominent limp in her walk. I wondered what had caused it, but I didn't ask.

She continued down the street, and I followed her, looking out for the red jacket with every step. She stopped just after the corner and pointed, her fingers shaking, at a large black tent. "There. Watch out f'r the man." When I turned to ask her why, she was already gone, making her way, limping off towards her fire once again.

I eyed the tent, wondering what the heck I was even doing here. What was I supposed to say? 'Hi, I've been sitting for a few hours waiting for you to come out of the woods. I followed you so I can ask you – what are you doing at the Bureau?' because, _that_ would end well. I settled for now with eying the tent while I tried to think. It was larger than the neighboring ones, and constructed differently too, I noted, watching smoke pour out of the top. It was as if there was a chimney there, rather than the other tents that left their doorways open to let the smoke out. As I approached, I realized it wasn't even made of the same material. This was some kind of black canvas material, bound together with rope and finished with more canvas that covered the door.

I could hear a voice inside, as I stood less than a foot away from the entrance, unsure how to knock on something that doesn't really have a door to knock on.

"We can't just keep her here, people are going to come looking! The last thing we need is the Bureau barging through here." The woman's voice was raspy, as if she had smoked too many cigarettes. "Someone is going to come looking for-" There was a resounding 'smack' and I knew then what I was going to do.

"Get a grip woman!" A man shouted, and my blood ran cold. I threw open the canvas that covered the door and stepped in.

The warmth hit like a wave, but it was the person inside that made me feel like I ran straight into a brick wall. I stood staring into eyes that looked like my own and knew there was only one possibility. As I stood face to face with my father for the first time in more than two years I still felt a rush of emotion overcome me. I threw my hood back and gave him a better look, to try and show him that I wasn't afraid of him anymore.

"Who the hell are you?" The woman yelled. My eyes didn't move from Marcus, as I watched the expression on his face change.

"Hello Father." I say coldly.

"Tobias." He responds, the tension begging for someone to lunge forward and grab the other by the neck. A choking sound escapes the woman and I turn to look at her now. She looked different up close, her face was full of old bruises, yellowed and sickly looking, and her dark eyes look sunken in, the tears and dark circles didn't help any.

"Why are you here?" He asked coldly, and I returned my attention to him, realising how different he looked now, more wild. His hair was longer, and his face was scruffy and bruised, it felt good seeing him like this, so... vulnerable. Someone out there finally hurt him back, someone out there fought back and I could only imagine how that made him feel. It made me feel good, satisfied, like finally revenge was being served.

"Sweeping the Fringe with the Bureau." I respond cooly, lying like it was habit and looking at the woman, whose eyes went wide.

"I told you!" She shrieks, "I told you they were coming!" Marcus silences her with a look that I know means something will follow as soon as I leave. I turn to the woman now and address her for the first time.

"You don't have to stay through this you know. God knows his own family didn't." I say coldly, looking back to him now and I can see the fire in his eyes, he wants to hit me and a part of me begs him to do it, give me some sort of reason to get all this emotion out and swing back.

Everyone stands still for a moment and then I spot it. A little red suitcase tucked away under the table and if I thought my blood had ran cold before, I was sorely mistaken. I was petrified now. I clear my throat and look back to him, taking a step closer. "Where did you get that?" I say, pointing towards it.

"That's none of your business." Marcus responds coolly, his arms crossing over his chest now. I look around and I recognize the stuffed elephant toy on the bed, and my stomach feels like it's in my throat and I'm choking on it. The door is shot open behind me and I felt a forceful impact to the back of my legs.

"FOUR!" I hear the shriek before I see her. Claire. I feel relief flood through my body, all of my muscles relaxing. I picked her up immediately and held her tight, if I had known she would ended up here with him, I never would have let her leave. Marcus had a look of surprise on his face.

"We're leaving." I said, not caring about why I originally came here anymore, she could walk up and down the damned trail as much as she wanted, the Bureau, the Fringe, it didn't matter. We were getting as far away from here as possible. I wasn't letting another child become the subject of Marcus' abuse.

"What do you mean 'we'?" Marcus spat at me, as if the word was venom.

"I mean, I don't care how she got here, and I don't care what you have to think about it. I'm taking her back." I said forcefully. "And you don't have a choice." I set Claire down now, making sure she stayed close and matched Marcus' look with a look of my own. Claire screamed and I spun to see the woman swinging at me with a wooden board. I put my hand up to block the blow and felt a familiar pain as a loud crunch followed.

It felt like it had only been a short time ago that it had still been in a cast, and it felt like it would be going right back into one. Claire screamed as I tore the board from the woman's hands and cast it aside. I took a step back and reached my other arm around to find Claire and force her back towards the exit with me.

"Come here girl!" Marcus shouts and crouches down, trying to coax her towards him. I feel her little hands lock onto my arm and I can feel her moving in tighter to my side. The woman has lunged forward and grabbed Claire's other arm and is trying to pull her away. Claire screams and I hold tight to her arm now, Marcus is moving towards us and I know this is going to end in a fight. I twist and grab Claire under the arms, and pull her towards me, the woman comes with her and I kick her away. I put Claire down and shove her towards the door.

"Go!" I yell and she hesitates, and I can see tears starting glistening in her wide eyes, as she looks back and forth between everyone. "Go Claire!" I shout again and she does, stumbling at first and then she's running out the door. I feel my knees bend automatically and my arms come up, it's habit now in times of threat. The woman is pulling herself off of the table, and I turn my attention to Marcus. He throws the first punch and I counter, careful to slide my feet as not to trip on anything. I hit him back and he manages to grab my bad arm. I shout in pain as he puts pressure on it, laughing as he does. I kick him hard in the shin, enough to make his grip loosen and I yank free, grabbing him behind the neck and pulling him forward. I drive my knee into his stomach as hard as I can and I do it again and once more for good measure.

I hear a shout and feel a heavy weight added to my back. The woman has jumped me and is holding a knife to my throat. I freeze for a moment and Marcus looks up from the floor to see why. His eyes grow big and he holds a hand up. "Marion, don't do it. Think about it, it'll only bring in more of them." He says calmly, and I can hear her breathing heavily. The blade shifts after a moment and it sits on my cheek now.

"Don't make me do it boy." She warns and I take my chance. I drive my elbow back and feel it meet with her ribcage, I feel her grip loosen as she shouts. The blade passes down my cheek as she drops onto her feet and the weight is lifted from my back. I shove her back and watch her stumble and fall into the makeshift cot that sits in the corner. I step back and eye the pair of them, they're both amped and ready to go. I don't bother to try and finish the fight, I know I'm sorely outmatched with a newly broken arm and hot, sticky blood that poured down my face and soaked my sweater.

I backed out into the street, the cold air was nice against the stinging cut on my face. I turned my attention away from the tent then and towards the street, looking for Claire. The woman from the fire approached me now, looking over my shoulder to the tent and then grabbed my arm. She pulled me down the road, constantly checking over my shoulder for signs of Marcus and dipped back in towards her own tent.

I was met by a pleasant floral smell and a mess of brown hair I recognised immediately. She was crying when I crouched down and hugged her this time.

"I told ya he was no good." The woman said.

"Believe me, I know more about that than you think." I respond. The woman, busied herself around her tent gathering things and Claire cried into my chest.

"C-can we go home?" She choked out between her sobs and I couldn't help but laugh.

"Yeah, I think we can do that." I say quietly.

The woman approaches me and grabs my bad arm and starts wrapping it with a piece of cloth, forcing a wet piece into my other hand and then to my face.

"Thank-you." I say to the woman, and then I frown. "I never caught your name." she laughs, her raspy voice filling the small space.

"Call me Tia." She responded, but her smile fell as she heard the commotion outside. "That's 'em." She says and looks at me now. "Ya better go with 'em boy!" I look out the door and see one of the Bureau jeeps making it's way at a crawl through the streets. I debate on whether or not I should make my presence known. If I had it my way, we would get on the trail and be back before they even knew we were gone. By judge of my physical condition and the darkening of the sky I knew, we would be very late getting back, and possibly not even able to find out way back if we left now. I sighed and stepped out, pulling Claire behind me as I did so.

The Jeep ground to a halt not too far from us and the driver emerged from the vehicle, gun in hand. "Four?" She yells, and she's too far away for me to make out properly who it is but as she approaches I recognise her. "Four!" Zoe shouts, and jogs over to us, lowering her gun. She takes in our state and gives me a questioning look as her eyes land on Claire.

"It's..." I hesitate, trying to figure out the best way to explain what was going on. "It's a long story." I finish lamely. My answer doesn't appear to surprise her, she just turns and waves us along behind her.

"Alright, we've got to get back before sundown." She says authoritatively. "Well get in!" She shouts "We're just heading back now." I hesitate outside the Jeep, wondering who the heck I'm going to have to face when I open the door, I look over my shoulder towards Marcus' tent and I see the woman emerge with her red coat on. I yank the door open then, not wanting to hang around and wanting to show her I wasn't bluffing when I said I was here with the Bureau.

I was relieved to see that the only occupants of the vehicle were Zoe, Brian, Johanna and empty seats. Johanna gasps as I lift Claire into the Jeep and follow her in myself, pulling the door closed behind me. "What are you doing here?" She demands, the minute I have my seatbelt on. "What happened?" She asks, flooding the air with questions. I don't want to answer. I know if I do I'll lose the only thing that was helping me keep my sanity in that place, that hole in the fence. Despite my own greed, I couldn't help but notice that my skin crawled every time I thought about Marcus roaming the halls of the Bureau while people slept.

"Marcus is here." I decide to say, not answering either question, but hoping it will be enough distraction to give me time to try and figure something out. And it does, at least for a little while, Johanna falls silent, her jaw dropping slightly.

"And he...?" I nod, pressing the wet cloth to my face again. I can tell by Brian's expression he has no idea who Marcus is, but I think he got the message as Johanna's questions continued. "What's he doing here?" She finally asks.

"He's travelling between the Fringe and the Bureau. Or at least his... accomplice Marion is." I say, trying to wrap my head around their relationship. Was it a relationship? This seems to catch Zoe's attention, and she looks into her rearview mirror at me.

"Who is he? Is he dangerous?" Brian asks, looking concerned but I'm sure it's for other reasons. Zoe takes to trying to explain who Marcus is while trying to listen too. Her explanation ends rather lamely and I can see by the expression on Brian's face it really didn't answer much.

"That's not possible." Zoe states matter of factly. "And even if he was, at least half of the Bureau knows what he looks like. He wouldn't go unnoticed walking those halls. We would know he was there the minute he stepped foot inside." I lean forward in my seat leaning as close to her as possible.

"And did you know _I_ was leaving the Bureau?" I ask quietly and I watch her fingers re-grip the steering wheel as the silence carries on in the vehicle. It's short lasted though, when Johanna turns her attention to Claire.

"How did _you_ get here?" I turn to look at Claire now and interested to know the answer to that question myself.

"I ran away." She stated boldly, crossing her arms over her chest and sitting up a little straighter.

"And you got all the way out here? Where were you running to?" She asks gently, a frown on her face. Claire avoids looking at anyone and answers quietly.

"I didn't want to stay there." She said quietly "I wanted to go home."

"Home? Where do your mum and d-" but before the question was out of her mouth Claire was speaking again.

"Back to Four's house." She said so quietly I almost missed it. Johanna doesn't say anything but gives me a look I don't know how to interpret.

"So how did you end up here?" Johanna asks softly, Claire just shrugs and says nothing.

"How?" I prod. When she looks up, she glances between Johanna and I as if wondering why it wasn't obvious to us.

"The train." She states simply, Johanna looks surprised and I'm just confused, there's no way a little girl could get onto the train by herself when we had initiates much older than her unable to make it. And most of them, once they got on didn't want to jump off, the only thing making them do it the threat of being factionless.

"And how did you end up with Marcus?" Johanna asks but I ignore that it was even asked and continue to prod about the train.

"How did you get on the train?" I demand, and my tone commands her attention and she turns away from Johanna.

"He was there with the Dauntless people." This statement catches our attention. If Marcus is working with old Dauntless members it was news to us. She looks between us beaming, but we're confused and intrigued with the details of her escape.

"How did you know they were Dauntless?" I ask her, and she frowns and looks at me like she's wondering why I'm asking.

"Because they were jumping onto the train. They took me with them." She rolls her eyes as if this was common knowledge. "Plus they were all wearing the club sign." She stated matter of factly, as if she was highly educated in the matter.

"What club sign?" I ask her cautiously. Johanna is frowning which makes Claire look between us both in almost a panic.

"This one." She says, pulling the white headband out of her messy hair and giving it to me. I rub the fabric between my fingers, it's some kind of spandex material that's got lots of stretch to it. I pull the fabric taut across my knee, smoothing the wrinkles out from it's makeshift use as a headband. I stop and feel my chest tighten as I look at the black ring that adorns the white band. I look down at the mark and everything starts to click together.


	8. Choices

_**A/N- Thought I would post the next chapter now as I'm so close to finishing NaNoWriMo. I apologise for any mistakes in it, I did give it a quick look but my brain is turning to mush from cranking out so many words everyday! Also, shoutout to Windchimed because she has been amazing in helping solidify my plans for the second half of this story. I hope you enjoy this chapter, as usual I love to hear you feedback, so please R&R!**_

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><p><em>Deliverance<em>

_Part One - Marked_

_Chapter Eight - Choices_

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><p>There had been a small meeting after Claire and I had been patched up, Johanna had demanded something be done. Only a small group of the full counsel that had attended the meetings partook, the few that knew about Chicago and the details of our life, the few who knew who Marcus was. I had to tell them then, and Johanna was furious when I finally let out how I had gotten out there in the first place.<p>

"There's a hole in the fence. You can't miss it, a footpath from here to there. It will bring you out right into their village, by a bunch of bonfires and tents." I say, staring at the table, examining the grain as I had when I had first sat at it. Out of all of them it was Zoe I felt bad about not telling, she was yelled at and sent out with a crew to inspect the fence, she left glaring at me.

Johanna turned on me then, her furious expression was becoming a look I was getting used to, and it was usually directed towards me. "What were you thinking? People could have got hurt due to your negligence. Not everyone can fight, not everyone is a soldier Tobias." Her words hit me hard, of course I knew that not everyone was a soldier, did she really think that was how I was thinking?

"I was thinking I wanted to be anywhere but here." I finally said, and the group stared. "But you won't have to worry about it anymore. I'm done." I placed my lapel pin on the table and stood, finally looking into her eyes. Johanna stands with her mouth open, and the rest of the group looked at the pin with their eyes wide. "We'll be heading back to Chicago first thing in the morning and you won't have to worry about my actions anymore." I leave the room silently and Claire meets me right outside the door, clearly she had been listening to the whole thing.

She takes my hand and we head back to the room, where I begin to throw everything into my bag and Claire climbs up on the bed and watches, silently. "Why are you in trouble?" She finally asks, as I stuff my wet sneakers into my bag.

"Because I endangered people." I respond.

"How?" She asks.

"I didn't tell them how Marcus and…" I had to stop and scrape my mind for the name of the woman that broke my arm. "Marion were getting in to the Bureau."

"But it's not just them." I freeze, and then turn to look at Claire.

"What did you just say?" I ask quietly.

"It's not just them, the Dauntless all do it. Sometimes they get food, sometimes they take clothes, sometimes they take other things." She says innocently. I approach the bed and sit down beside her, I need to put an end to this Dauntless club idea.

"Claire," I finally say. "Those aren't Dauntless, they're bad guys." She looks like she might cry as my statement sinks in. "You know who was a Dauntless?" She just looks at me. "Christina's a Dauntless. I'm a Dauntless." She doesn't look happy with this response. "And you know, I think you might be a Dauntless too." I say, brushing a stray tear from her cheek. She smiles at my comment.

"Really?"

"Yes." I respond. "Absolutely."

Claire and I were gone and nearly back in Chicago before the clock read 7:00am. She was happy to be travelling back to the city and was determined to find answers to all her questions as usual.

"Where are we going?"

"Home." I said, rubbing my eyes and looking out the windscreen again, driving the Jeep over the bumpy road. There's silence between us for a long while and then she finally talks again.

"What did the bad guys do?"

"Remember the school?" She nods. "Remember the explosion?" She nods again. "That's what they did. And more than you could ever imagine." I say, clenching my jaw as I picture Marcus sneaking into the city. My mind had been full of ways it could have been done. The Amity fields were essentially unpatrolled, it would have been easy to stow away in their trucks. They could have taken a vehicle from the Bureau to the fields and then slipped into the city unnoticed. They could have a vehicle somewhere and bypassed the Bureau altogether, driving straight into an open side of the city. There were so many ways it could be done and it made me feel sick. Chicago was basically unprotected and there was nothing I could do about it, even knowing what I did now.

It isn't long getting from the Bureau to the city, and I feel my spirits rise as I see the buildings coming into view. The place I once thought was the only thing left, the place the world turned around, my home. Of course I later found out that it's a miniscule prick on the map, but sometimes I still liked to look at it and pretend that it was the only place that existed. It made things a lot easier. I was surprised to look over and see Claire glaring at it. "What's wrong?" I ask her.

"Are you going to send me back?" her arms are crossed over her chest again and she's looking at me now, demanding an answer.

"Back where? To the Fringe? No!" She shakes her head.

"Back to the other people, the foster people." I feel the guilt crash down on me like a wave and I feel worse knowing I hadn't really thought that far ahead. She stares at me, waiting for an answer, looking angrier by the minute. She reminds me of Tris, her arms crossed and her eyes looking like they're probing in to my soul. She had the same demanding attitude too.

"No." She doesn't look convinced. "No." I repeat firmly. "And especially not since they can't keep a hold on you!" She smiles then, as if she's accomplished something. "But don't think this whole ordeal is keeping you from school! We're getting you supplies and you're going tomorrow morning!" Her smile falls a bit, but I can tell by the look on her face that it's the least of her worries.

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><p>I lay in my bed staring at the ceiling, it's early, way too early and I know I should be getting up to start what's sure to be a chaotic day. It takes a little bit of coaxing, mentally coaching myself but eventually I threw the blankets back and sit up, rubbing my hands over my face. The cool air makes me want to crawl back into the blankets and hibernate for the upcoming winter but I force myself to get moving.<p>

I change into my old clothes, the ones I wore so many times in the past when I was training initiates and honing my own skills. It felt good to be shrugging the long sleeved shirt on over my head, to be resuming my usual rhythms. It was a little difficult and took me a while to remember how the heck I had tied my shoes with a cast on before, but after a few minutes of struggle I had accomplished it - or something that somewhat resembled it.

I grabbed the first piece of fruit I saw on my way through the kitchen - an apple, and ate it on my way out the door. The building was still quiet this early in the morning and I felt like I was disturbing the peace as I heard my own footsteps against the floor. Outside was frosty and I wanted nothing to do with it, but I wasn't going to stop now, I wanted too see the strength I had before and these were all the first steps to getting back to that place.

I let my mind wander as I slowly started to pick up speed, it felt like things were like they used to be, running past all these familiar buildings early in the morning, dressed in my Dauntless gear. If my mind hadn't been so hell bent on remembering everything that had happened, I would have felt like I could have settled right into the Dauntless tables and ate breakfast with the rowdy bunch. That's why I was pleasantly surprised to see a black figure as I rounded the corner, another Dauntless who hadn't quite let go.

My run wasn't very long today, I felt I had earned a bit of a break and so I found myself back in front of my apartment earlier than I had expected. I took advantage of the time, getting ready to go into the office. I got dressed in my normal clothes, feeling good to be rid of the confining collared shirts and polished shoes, this was who I was. I needed to go to the office today to gather what little belongings I had there and to drop off the last bits of my paperwork before making my exit. What better way to do it than to arrive as my civilian self? I packed Claire a lunch I was sure she'd be happy with, I mean, come on – Dauntless cake. Amar had hooked me up for old time's sake and it had become a staple in my daily diet. Terrible I know, but looking back on it now, we had had it almost everyday before anyways.

When the clock on the stove read seven thirty I went and woke Claire up and told her to get ready for school. She wasn't happy to be waking up but neither was anyone I ever had to wake up so it didn't phase me. I easily dodged the pillow she threw at me and I threw it back. "Up!" I shout, as she pulls the blankets up over her head, I can hear her trying to stifle her laughter so I pull the blanket back and she looks at me with a big smile. I just shake my head and walk away, closing the door behind me. "Up!" I shout again and I wait to hear her feet hit the ground before making my way to the kitchen.

I grab some cereal and a bowl and put everything she needs onto the kitchen table - minus the juice, never the juice. I only have to wait a few minutes before she emerges wearing a shirt with a giant heart on it and boots that look more like slippers but she had insisted upon. The outfit Evelyn had helped her pick out the night before. I had to admit, for a woman who did a piss poor job the first time round, she seemed to be doing a lot better on the second go.

"Eat your breakfast." I say, nodding towards the bowl of cereal, she climbs up onto the chair and grabs the box of cereal, opening it up and grabbing handfuls, dropping them in her bowl one by one. I watch perplexed as she slams the box back down and grabs the milk, carefully unscrewing the lid. She rests the bottom of the jug on the table and begins to tilt it slowly, waiting for the milk to start coming out. I can see clearly from the other side of the table it's going to miss the bowl.

I remember the juice incident and I'm up from my seat in an instant, pouring the milk myself. I made a mental note that any kind of liquid plus Claire was a bad combination and tightened the lid on and returned the jug to the fridge. Evelyn was up and moving now and looking rather unhappy. She had looked that way since I told her about our encounter with Marcus in the Fringe the day before last. It wasn't about to sour Claire's day though and she finished her cereal and hopped up from the table, dropping her bowl into the sink.

"Alright, let's go!" I announce and Claire practically runs to the door, reaching for her new coat which I bought after she had spent that last few months apparently running around through the snow in a sweater. She picks up her pink backpack and slips it onto her shoulders, heading for the door before I even have my own shoes and coat on.

"Hurry up!" She shouts, pulling on my hand and I stumble out the door behind her, shrugging my coat on as we leave. I don't have the Jeep anymore, I remember as we get outside, having dropped it off at the Police Station for pick-up by the Bureau. I regret not holding onto it for one more day. The situation leaves us with a few options but I have a feeling I know which one Claire will like best. I pull her hand in the opposite direction she takes off in and she's very confused.

"School's that way!" She shouts, pointing in the opposite direction.

"Come on Miss. Dauntless, we've got a train to catch." She looks confused for a moment and then a wide smile breaks across her face and she comes easily. I check my watch as we near the tracks. I can hear the train coming in the distance and I know it will only be a couple of minutes before it's right there. I crouch low and get Claire to jump on my back, she does without hesitation and I start jogging. The weight difference throws me off for the first few steps but I regain myself. I can feel my whole body listening to the rhythm of the train and my feet begin falling into a familiar pattern. Before I know it we're alongside the train.

I can feel the difference between now and last time, the running and working out I had been doing in the past few months had me breathing easy and my muscles hardly burning as I launched myself up and grabbed onto the door frame easily. As we swing into the carriage Claire cheers and I can't help but smile at the happiness she gets from the simple things. If only something as simple as this could make me feel completely happy again.

I stand by the door as the train gently rocks us and Claire stares, beaming over my shoulder at the buildings that whiz by. I recognise this city better than if it was the back of my hand, I realise, having paid attention to all the buildings and their proximity to significant places in town for years. It's this knowledge that lets me know we're nearing the school.

I watch for a few more seconds and then make my way back into the carriage, hitching Claire up a little higher on my back. I count to myself, and watch how the trees pass and the ground whirls. I take three strong strides and launch myself off the train. For a moment there's nothing under us, and I feel Claire's grip tighten to an almost unbearable grip, but it's only a moment and then it's gone. I relax my knees and let the momentum pull us forward as my feet hit the ground and I slow to a jog at the bottom of the snowy hill.

I crouch and let Claire slide off my back, she isn't on the ground more than a few seconds and she's cheering and jumping, her fist beating the air above her head. A nearby parent gives me a disapproving look and I just shake my head. I can tell by the way they dress and the way she holds herself that she's not from the city - this is 'dangerous' to her. To me and the few older kids that tumbled out of the other cars onto the snow covered hill, this is 'life'.

The older kids recognise me and wave, I nod back and then turn back to Claire. She's already made herself a small entourage and is heading for the school. She's only gone a few steps before she looks over her shoulder and waves. I wave back, and turn to head off to the office. As I do, I catch a look at the disapproving parent who is straight up glaring at me now and I smile at her, which seems to make her glower even more. This reaction amuses me as I look to my feet and head off down the street, how different the world outside Chicago was. Would jumping off the trains one day become a thing of the past, a danger? I hope not, there was something terribly thrilling about it that I could never let go of, no matter how hard I tried.

I pull the collar of my jacket up against the cold and shove my hands in my pockets as I make my way to the office. This is the last and arguably the thing I had been regretting the most this morning. At the last minute I decide against it and head towards Christina's office, putting off my old office for a little bit longer.

The coffee shop between my office and Christina's office, is a small, cozy place that smells of coffee and spices and is busy every morning of the week without exception. So when I enter, I'm not surprised to see the large line. A few people acknowledge me, faces I recognise from the old days and I regard them silently as they leave with their morning fix in hand.

I order two coffees as I reach the counter and two muffins, disregarding the fact that I had already ate breakfast once this morning. I pay the barista, a blonde guy I don't recognise who's far too chipper to be real and take the coffees he slides across the counter. I keep in the direction of Christina's office, letting the coffees warm my hands. At the end of the day I didn't feel it was right to go through with all of this, keep all this information to myself without first consulting her. I needed to talk to Christina.

I reach the steps outside her office building and take them two at a time. I pull open the door easily and kick it with my foot to keep it open long enough to get in without spilling any hot liquids on myself. I had only been here a few times, Christina usually the one bringing the coffee to my office, but I remembered the way to her desk. I made my way there, ignoring the stares and murmurs that followed in my wake, I admit, I thought after all of this time it would have died down, but that didn't seem to be the case.

I look at my watch as I lean against the wall of her cubicle, it's seven to nine. In typical Christina fashion I expect her to burst through the doors two minutes to and be a hurried mess, trying to get logged in before her nine o'clock start time. True to herself, she arrives three minutes to, proving me wrong, but looking out of breath and sleepy.

A woman stops her at the door, a redhead that appears to be whispering. I wonder for a moment what they're talking about and then the redhead looks over her shoulder at me. I sigh and look up to the ceiling, these were the moments that made me wish I wasn't in Chicago anymore. Mind, I didn't seem to be able to escape these looks and whispers at the Bureau either.

Christina looks past her co-worker towards her desk, scanning the surrounding area until her eyes fall on me. I dangle a coffee in front of me as if to taunt her and she smiles, says something to her co-worker and moves past her. She snags the coffee out of my hand and I hold out the bagged muffin to her as well and she snatches it up, breezing past me into her cubicle. As I had expected she's frantically trying to get her computer booted up as she hangs her jacket and opens her coffee. Throwing everything down onto her desk in a pile to be sorted at a later time, as it appeared, were most of the things on her desk.

"Oh my god, you're a life saver!" She gushes, pulling the muffin out and peeling the paper off it before breaking a portion off the top. "Why are you here anyways? I thought you didn't get home until tomorrow? What the hell happened to your face?" She asks bluntly and I scoff at her.

"Thanks for that real boost of confidence there buddy." I reply, my voice dripping in sarcasm.

I sip my coffee and take a deep breath in, taking a seat on the corner of her desk. This was all going to need explaining, and I begin to wonder if morning coffee was the right time to be bringing everything up - too late now I guess.

"Well, I've got some news." I start, and she raises an eyebrow, blowing on her coffee before taking a sip and making a face.

"Ok, that's hot." She says, fanning her mouth as if it would make a difference, the damage already done. "Ok, a lot of news or just a little?" she asks, spinning in her chair to log in to her computer. She keeps looking to the corner of her screen like she has a nervous tick, watching the time. I wonder if she realises she could adjust the time and the computer would mark her in on time everyday but I dismiss it.

"A lot." I answer easily, that would be one of the easiest questions I would answer all day, I was sure.

"Start with the small stuff then, give me a minute to wake up." I laugh and shake my head.

"You don't even start early." The comment earns me the now signature Christina glare. "It's the truth." I say shrugging, which causes her to swat at me, making me laugh as I pull my own muffin out of the bag.

"Ok, but seriously, tell me." She says, spinning to face me.

"Ok, well we had the meetings at the Bureau, but you already know about that." She nods and I continue on. "Well, there was this hole in the fence, and on the other side of the hole was a trail, I had been using it to run."

"Naturally." She says, looking amused. "I'm not seeing how this is news, you let yourself go, everyone knows it." Her Candor is showing through and I ignore it, used to her unfiltered mouth now.

"So, I followed it all the way the day before last, and it took me to the Fringe." Her eyebrows raise, and she motions for me to continue. "It turns out Marcus was using the trail to travel between the Fringe and the Bureau."

"I thought I told you to start with the small stuff!" She argues, her eyes wide and her mouth hanging open. I give her a look and she looks even more baffled. "You're kidding me?" I shake my head and keep going.

"He's living with some fringe dwelling woman named Marion." Christina makes a face and a gagging noise.

"Ew, who the hell would want to be within a mile of that guy… no offence." She adds hastily.

"None taken." I assure her and plunge on.

"He's also in association with the group that's behind the attacks on the city. I don't know if he's leading them or just in leagues with them, but Claire gave me this." I say, pulling the white band out from my pocket and dropping it on her desk. She examines in and then looks at me.

"Claire?" I take a deep breath.

"Which brings me to the last bit of news. As of yesterday, I officially have a child." The coffee she had just taken a sip of sprays across her desk, covering everything in sight.

"What?" She shouts, which causes a number of people to turn and look.

"She ran away and ended up in the Fringe with Marcus. I wasn't about to leave her there with him and clearly foster care can't keep their hands on her."

"So that's your basis for deciding to look after a child." She says, emphasizing the last word as if she thought it hadn't occurred to me that Claire was in fact, one of these mythical beings called 'children'.

"She wasn't just running away Christina." I say solemnly. "She was trying to get to my house." Christina is silenced at this fact and shakes her head.

"I'm sorry, I just never pictured you as the fatherly type, no offence." She adds again.

"Offence taken!" I respond in a mocking tone.

"Ok, not what I meant, but I'll be over tonight to make sure everything's in order. I suppose you do have Evelyn if things do get over your head." I snort at her comment and we both laugh, knowing that Evelyn was the last person on the face of the planet that would be left taking care of someone else's child. She couldn't even take care of her own when the time had arisen. "So where is she now?" She asks, looking around as if expecting to see her hiding away somewhere.

"At school." I say, knowing Christina was already expecting me to be neglecting Claire. "Where she's supposed to be. I already gave her that lecture." Christina's expression changes and I don't know how to interpret it.

"I change my mind." She announces. "You're going to be fine. I forgot you used to wrangle children for a living, you know how to control nut cases with weapons. But you know you can't just cut her loose right? There's no getting rid of the problem kids now, she causes trouble you have to deal with it, no sending her to the factionless."

"I know Christina, you doubt me so much." she laughs and takes another bite of her muffin.

"Oh, and also, I quit." She stops chewing and looks at me.

"You quit? Four, you had all the time in the world to quit when it was just a desk job. If you didn't want to take on the real thing you shouldn't have kept at it." I roll my eyes at her mini lecture, sounding like my mother with every word that slips out of her mouth. "Whatever, I warned you." She ends and I stand, tossing my garbage into the bin under her desk.

"Well, I have to head over there now if I don't want to face the wrath of Johanna. As it is, I'm sure someone's going to try and talk me out of it if it's not Johanna herself."

"Alright, I'll see you later?" I nod and wave as I take my leave.

It wasn't that long and I found myself standing in the middle of the road, looking up at the office and mentally preparing myself to get in and out and quickly as possible. I take a deep breath and head up the stairs. I make a beeline for my office and grab the very few things I had there, shoving a couple things in my pockets and carrying the others. I log into my computer and prepare to clear my account to make way for a new trainee when there's a knock at the door. No one should know I'm here.

I cautiously get up and walk towards the door, listening for any strange noises coming from the other side and I mentally prepare myself for a fight. I hear nothing. I open the door slowly and feel myself relax completely as I see Amar standing there. He looks as relieved as I feel, but something is off, his enthusiastic nature is damped, there must have been another attack.

"I wondered if you'd be here. We need you in the boardroom." I frown and open my mouth to explain that I no longer worked here, but he was gone before I got the chance. I stand there for a moment, debating on if I should actually follow him or if I should just leave and explain it to him later. Finally I decide I owe it to the guy to go along with him and I close the door behind me, a little more forcefully than I had intended and make my way to the boardroom.

I'm surprised to see a full tactical team in the room as I open the door, along with numerous office workers. They all look to me when I enter and I regret my decision for a moment. Amar stands at the head of the table and nods in my direction when I enter, and then turns to the large group between us. "Ladies and gentlemen, simmer down!" He shouts out over the voices and the crowd falls silent. "I suppose you're all wondering why you're here? Well I'm here to tell you that." He looks around the room, and starts speaking again when his eyes land on me, and they don't move.

"It is with great sadness that I have to announce the loss of someone very important. Johanna Reyes is dead." The group breaks out in a roar, people shouting questions and some even reducing into hysterics. "The good news," he starts and the crowd settles down, but never comes to the complete silence it had before. "The good news," he repeats, "Is that a Deputy Mayor was appointed before her death. So everyone, meet the new Mayor of Chicago." Amar's arm raises to point me out and several heads turn in my direction. "A public announcement had not been made yet, but will be later tonight." I stand in shock as Amar handles the situation like a professional and I feel less and less like one with every passing second.

"How did she die? What happened?" A girl asks and I feel ashamed that it wasn't my first thought when the words had left Amar's lips.

"Our understanding is there were reports that Marcus Eaton was found in the Fringe." I feel my stomach drop. "It is believed that he had found a way into the Bureau, as a threat to the peace Johanna had insisted on meeting with him. However, he had been prepared for a full Bureau assault and she was shot by his men." I felt my knees starting to sink beneath me and I was soon slumped against the wall, my head in my hands, unwilling to look at the eyes that fell on me now. Accusing eyes, linking me somehow to Marcus' actions, always linked to him until the day he dies.

How could I tell them I had quit? How could I tell them after this, after my father became responsible for the death of our leader? The answer was easy - I couldn't, at least I know I couldn't live with myself if I even tried to. The city needed me now more than ever and let's face it, I had a kid I had to raise and no job. Not exactly the most ideal situation in the world, so I didn't have much of a choice, this was it. Amar's response had answered it though, Marcus wasn't just in leagues with, he was leading the attackers.

"We will be travelling to the Bureau now to retrieve the body, there will be a funeral within the next couple of days, the announcement will be made public when the decision is made. Thank-you for your time." He finishes, dismissing the group.

It takes a while but the group streams out and soon it's just the tactical squad and me sitting in shock against the wall. I give Amar one last look and then stand and leave. I'm running before I know it and it isn't very long until I find myself bounding up the steps in front of Christina's office again. I felt like I had been there only moments ago, but it didn't matter, my head was spinning too fast to take it all in.

I burst through the doors and as I expected, a few heads pop up immediately alert, old Dauntless. Their tattoos and shaved heads making them stick out like sore thumbs, but I'm not concerned about that now as I head immediately for Christina's desk. She is one of the few who had popped her head around the corner. There was concern on her features as she met me halfway between the door and her desk. "I need to talk to you." I say, grabbing her wrist and pulling her back towards the doors.

"What happened? Was there another attack? Four? Four!" I let go of her when we reach the steps and I pace back and forth on the sidewalk, rubbing my hands through my hair and over my face, trying to relax myself anyway I can. "Four, Four!" Christina shouts, bounding down the stairs and intercepting my steps. "Calm down, what's going on?" She asks, grabbing me by the shoulders. I feel myself take in a few shaky breaths and I look dead into her eyes.

"Johanna's dead." I say, the words falling out of my mouth. "Johanna's dead and I'm the mayor and Marcus is leading the attacks and he's the reason Johanna's dead and I have a kid to look after and-"

"Four!" Christina shouts, cutting me off. I take a deep breath and look into her dark eyes. "Slow down, tell me what happened." I recount everything to her, the office, Amar, the tactical crew, how Johanna died and how I couldn't bring myself to tell them that I had quit two days ago. "Well, maybe being the mayor isn't such a bad thing." She says, as she sits on the steps, patting the concrete beside her. I sit down next to her and stare at the cracks in the sidewalk, wondering if I'll ever get more than a step ahead before I fall two steps back. "You're the only one trained for it."

"Except I wasn't, I was hardly addressed at the position I had as it was, and when I was, I was treated like a child and scolded." I spit, the bitter memories of the first few meetings on my mind. Of course things had gotten a bit better, that is until they found out about the fence, and then I was back to square one.

"You can do it. Trust me, if anyone can do it, it's you." She assures me. "Marcus will pay for this. Don't worry about that, the city won't let it go unpunished, just worry about today. You should get a speech ready because you'll probably have to address the public and you've got to pick Claire up after school. Worry about Marcus tomorrow." Christina is my saving grace, keeps me grounded and my thoughts in one coherent line, as opposed to the scattered mess it would be otherwise.

* * *

><p>The people gathered in the large ceremony hall, I could feel the nerves rising in my stomach as I looked out into the crowd, searching for faces I might know. I had visited this hall many times over the years and watched the Choosing Ceremony, waiting for the day that I would get the chance to choose and I could be free. My eyes finally find Evelyn and Christina in the crowd and right beside them is Claire, waving frantically from between the bodies. Amar nods from the side of the stage and I approach the podium they have set out, and the crowd quiets as I look out upon them. I turn my brain into instructor mode and try to convince myself that these are all just my initiates and I need to shape them and hone their skills for survival.<p>

"Ladies and Gentlemen," I start, "Thank-you for taking the time out of your schedule to join us here this evening. It's an unfortunate thing when a loved one passes and it's such news I regret to inform you is the purpose for today's announcement. Loved by many, hated by few, Johanna Reyes played a significant role in the redevelopment of this city and that's what makes this announcement so much harder to pass along. On December 13th Johanna Reyes was shot and killed during a peacekeeping mission in the Fringe surrounding Chicago." The crowd went up in a frenzy of conversation and the hall magnified the sound more.

I wait but the sound doesn't die out and I resort to my old methods. "People!" I shout loudly, the hall carrying my voice nicely from down here. The crowd silences slightly, and I know it won't get much quieter than this. "These unfortunate events are still under investigation and further precautions may be taken in response to this brutality. We also ask that if anyone sees suspicious activity that they report it immediately to the Police as to avoid any further attacks of this sort. In the wake of these incidents, as some of you may have already put together, Chicago is left without a leader. As Deputy Mayor it is my duty to step up until such a time the people are able to choose a leader themselves. You may recognise me, I know I recognise some of you. My name is Four, no that's not my real name, and no - one through three weren't taken." My last comment makes people laugh a little, which I'm happy about because the room was starting to feel heavy and depressing. I won't tell them how many times I had heard that joke, but let them feel it was fresh and funny.

"I grew up in this city, I lived in the factions with you, and I fought alongside you as things were looking meak. Those of you who don't know me, from that description you probably have put together that I was Dauntless. For those of you who come from outside our city walls and have found a home here, that means I was part of the militant group that protected this city." I watch as some confused faces come to an understanding.

"As any self respecting Dauntless member, I have made my fair share of mistakes. I've been beat up, knocked around and found it in myself to just keep going. So over the coming days I hope we can come to an understanding of sorts. We are all human, and we all make mistakes, please bear with me as this is as much of a change for you as it is for me. Let us laugh together, learn together and keep making this City a better place. Thank-you."

I finish and I'm eager to sit back down, my mind spinning with all the cliche sentences I shouldn't have used and all the things I could have said better. But the people were clapping, so at least they didn't hate me, it must have sounded better than I thought it did in my own mind.

Amar approaches the podium now and says a speech, giving the time and date of Johanna's funeral service, as well as assuring the people that they are one step closer to arresting the group behind the attacks on our city and urge the people once again to contact them if they see any suspicious activity within the city limits.

I feel myself relax as the crowd breaks from it's trance, and conversation stirs up again as people rise and make their way from the building, mingling together like would have never been seen before. Amar approaches me as I stand and rub my hand over my face. "That was perfect." He assures me, clapping me on the back. I give him a weary look which makes him laugh. "You always doubt yourself too much, you're a lot better at things than you give yourself credit for."

I'm taken by surprise as an energetic Claire jumps me from the side, which causes Amar to give me a look. "You remember Claire right?" He nods but gives me a questioning look, how could he not remember Claire? That whole day had been ingrained in my own memory.

"I thought she was in foster care?" he asked cautiously.

"Not anymore, did you hear? Four has a child." Christina says from behind me, and I roll my eyes as she appears, arms crossed over her chest. This seems to amuse Amar, a smile appearing on his face as he shakes his head at me.

"Better you than me!" He shouts and I ignore him, trying to stifle my own laugh but I can't help but think he'd be fine at the job. The light mood changes when Evelyn speaks up, changing the subject to Johanna and my new position, which I was still struggling to come to terms with and had been all day. There's so much I was left with and so little I knew about it, that this was sure to be more than a few 'human mistakes' as I had so elegantly phrased it in my speech, this was going to be more like a train wreck.

"Which reminds me!" Amar says, after Evelyn brings the situation up. "This is now yours Mr. Mayor." He holds a box out to me, and I recognise it right away as it is extremely similar to the box my own lapel pin had been in. I take it and open in, and Christina cranes her neck to see inside. There's a gold pin very much like my own, but the faction symbols and the web that connects them all are silver in colour and looks much better than my own did. I hesitate in taking it though, I don't feel like I deserve to be wearing this pin, not after the woman who wore it before me.

I tried to give it back to Amar several times. Explaining that my position was temporary at best and someone else was sure to be elected in over me when the time came, but he wouldn't have it.I felt ashamed to wear something I had put up such a scene to get rid of, but I wasn't about to back out now after doing the speech and the whole announcement. I took it but didn't wear it, and I wouldn't wear it until such a time that I felt I deserved to, and I made sure he knew it. He shook his head and reminded me that I was better at more than I gave myself credit for.

The walk home was long, Evelyn refusing to even attempt using the train as a method of transport. Claire didn't see why that meant we couldn't, which then begged for an explanation of why it's rude to leave behind someone you went somewhere with which then somehow led to a conversation about puppies. I put my foot down at puppies.

Claire was a ball of energy and trying to get her to go to bed was a nightmare. My mother took it upon herself to inform me that I had fed her too much cake and that was why she was bouncing everywhere. But I formed my own opinions when I tucked her into bed and she wrapped her arms around my neck in a vice like grip and whispered in my ear. "This was the best day ever."


End file.
